News

News from GITPA (May 2018)

May 31, 2018May 15, 2019

GITPA Newsletter 2017/18

GITPA Newsletter 2017/18 has been published! In this issue, you can know more about GITPA’s work in the last year. Besides, we have invited members to share about their “off-the-job” profession and their passion in different aspects. You would be inspired from their wonderful stories! You can access the Newsletter on the KICP.

Enjoy reading!

Annual General Meeting

The Annual General Meeting (AGM) cum Annual Dinner was held on 16 May 2018 (Wednesday) at the Hong Kong Medical Association Club House (Wanchai Premises). In the meeting, the ExCo gave an account of GITPA’s work as well as the financial position in the past year.

The new ExCo 2018/19 was successfully elected. We also presented the prizes to the winners of best-of-three masterpieces from “Valentine’s Flower Workshop”, which were voted by our colleagues. The dinner was conducted in a pleasant atmosphere. All participants enjoyed the game session very much, and some even won the attractive prizes!

Let’s meet the new ExCo:

https://gitpa.org.hk/gitpa-executive-committee-2018-19/

Events

News from GITPA (April 2018)

April 30, 2018May 28, 2018

News from GITPA (April 2018)

Membership Renewal Exercise 2018

The GITPA Membership Renewal Exercise 2018 was successfully completed. We sincerely thank all of YOU for your continuous support to GITPA. The results and the full GITPA membership list will be announced shortly. For those who are not our members yet, please DO consider joining GITPA – the only official staff association that represents YOU. To do so, you may contact your site representatives or send us your completed membership application form with payment in cheque. Further details and the application form are available at our website: www.gitpa.org.hk > About Us > Join Members.

Annual General Meeting cum Annual Dinner

Thank you for your support over the years. Time flies. It is time again for our Annual General Meeting (AGM) and get-together in May every year. In addition to sharing with you our work this year, the current and the to-be-elected Chairmen, as well as other Ex-Co members, are keen to meet you on this occasion.

The AGM cum Annual Dinner will be held on 16 May 2018 (Wednesday) at Club House, the Hong Kong Medical Association (香港醫學會宴會廳). All GITPA members are cordially invited to join! As always, your participation is instrumental to the success of GITPA. If you cannot attend the meeting in person, please submit your e-proxy form, which will be sent to you under Lotus Notes email.

Lastly, to sustain and develop GITPA to better serve AP grade colleagues, we would like to invite members to join the new Ex-Co of 2018-19. If you are interested to join, please don’t hesitate to send us an email before the AGM.

Looking forward to seeing you at the AGM cum Annual Dinner.

GITPA Ex-Co 2017-18

Events

News from GITPA (March 2018)

April 3, 2018April 3, 2018

GITPA 新春行大運

The GITPA’s Lunar New Year hiking activity (GITPA 狗年新春行大運 (鶴藪、沙螺洞、鳳園)遠足活動) was held on 3 March 2018 (Saturday).

A total of 26 colleagues and their family members had joined the activity. Departing from the Hok Tau (鶴藪) barbecue site in Fanling at around 2p.m., we walked along Hok Tau Tsuen (鶴藪村), Hok Tau Reservoir (鶴藪水塘) and Sha Lo Tung (沙螺洞), and arrived at Fung Yuen (鳳園) at about 4:30p.m.

Away from the hustle and bustle of the concrete jungle, we enjoyed peace and fresh air. It was quite cloudy and foggy in the beginning, but sunshine started to greet us during the hike. The 2.5-hour hike was relaxing and refreshing. We even got the chance to have “afternoon tea” at Sha Lo Tung!

Consultation Exercise – Extension of Service of Civil Servants

As you may have learnt from the circulation from the administration unit or personnel section of the B/D that you are serving, the Secretary for the Civil Service has launched a consultation paper on extension of the service of civil servants who joined the Government between 1 June 2000 and 31 May 2015. The consultation paper sets out the proposed implementation framework of the new initiative. (The paper is available on the website of the Civil Service Bureau at https://www.csb.gov.hk/english/publication/2695.html).

If you would like to provide your views and comments on the consultation paper through GITPA for us to present them in one go to the OGCIO, you may send them to us at GITPA/OGCIO/HKSARG on or before 9 April 2018 (Monday). Looking forward to hearing from you!

GITPA Ex-Co 2017-18

Information

News from GITPA (February 2018)

March 1, 2018March 2, 2018

GITPA 情人節 「永生花」浪漫手作坊

How was your Valentine’s Day? A romantic dinner and gorgeous flowers might be indispensable to show your love to your beloved one. GITPA organised 「GITPA 情人節「永生花」浪漫手作坊」 on 3 February 2018 (Saturday) for colleagues to make their own preserved fresh flowers to show their forever love.

42 colleagues, family members and friends participated. Due to the overwhelming response, two classes were arranged. The classroom was like a world of flowers, filling with colourful, beautiful and aromatic flowers of various types. It was such a pleasurable environment to spend a Saturday afternoon.

The instructor introduced the techniques to make the preserved fresh flowers and shared precautions and tips to maintain the flowers. With the help from the instructor, the participants created their own lovely masterpieces. They elected the best ones in their class to be the candidates for the coming voting at KICP. Stay tuned to our voting!

Coming Activity

Our annual activity 「新春行大運」 will be held on 3 March 2018 (Saturday). This time we have chosen a 2-star hiking route 粉嶺鶴藪圍 → 鶴藪水塘 → 沙螺洞 → 鳳園. Do come and join us to celebrate the Chinese New Year!

May we take this opportunity to wish all of you and your families:

A Happy, Healthy and Prosperous

Year of the Dog!

GITPA Ex-Co 2017-18

Information

News from GITPA (January 2018)

February 1, 2018March 2, 2018

Mindfulness Activity

The mindfulness activity 「GITPA 嘉道理農場靜觀遊」 was successfully held on 7 January 2018 (Sun.). 30 colleagues, family members and friends participated.

As always, GITPA consider members’ mental and physical health as our first priority. We therefore, conducted a mindfulness introductory class to our members, allowing them to relax themselves in the beautiful and tranquil environment in Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden.

To begin with, the instructor led the participants to cultivate mindfulness through some relaxation and breathing exercise which is a systematic method of focusing their attention appropriately. The participants were asked to walk around to look for a little thing in the garden, giving them a chance to sense and observe the characteristics of the nature that they otherwise would not observe. They had an exercise of tasting a raisin slowly to feel it deeply and appreciate the food.

After lunch, the participants were guided to have a silent walk in the garden. They had to walk in an extremely slow pace without chatting so that they can enjoy the quiet environment, sense their intimate connection with the nature, and observe the flow of inner thoughts, emotions and bodily sensations. They also had a painting exercise to express their mind through the colorful paints.

Through a day of nourishing mindful experience, participants were able to establish awareness and focus, and recognise their own thoughts, feelings and behaviors. Hope that they can continue to practice and apply the skills into their daily life.

GITPALeaks

GITPA held an orientation gathering, GITPALeaks, with the newly recruited APIIs on 9 January 2018 (Tue.). Over 80 of the new recruits had joined. In the 2-hour gathering, GITPA ExCo had a frank and open discussion with the new colleagues on topics which they concern, such as career development and continuous study. It was glad to meet our smart and enthusiastic “new blood”!

Membership Renewal Exercise

It is time for GITPA membership renewal again! GITPA’s site representatives (site representative list: https://gitpa.org.hk/site-representatives-list/) should have approached you for membership renewal already. Have you renewed your GITPA membership? If you haven’t done so or haven’t joined GITPA yet, please take this opportunity to join this only professional association that represents AP grade staff.

Your continual support is essential to sustain the development of our staff association. Surely GITPA will not succeed without your recognition, support and participation. Please continue to join and support GITPA as only you have the power to make GITPA serve and speak for you!

Members’ Benefit – Discount on HK Computer Society’s Membership

We are pleased to inform you that the Hong Kong Computer Society (HKCS) continues to offer membership discount to our GITPA members. Details are as follows:

Current HKCS Membership Renewal

Discount of 20% off on annual membership fee (To enjoy the discount offer, you should indicate that you are a GITPA member in the “Discount on Annual Membership Fee” section of the renewal form)
$700 (Full) / $350(Associate) for 2 years membership (i.e. discount of 30% off) valid until 31 March 2018.
Offer until 30 September 2018

New HKCS Membership Application

Entrance fee ($300) + Discount of 20% off on annual membership fee
Entrance fee ($300) + $700 (Full) / $350 (Associate) for 2 years membership discount (i.e. discount of 30% off)
Offer until 30 September 2018

You can find the application form on GITPA’s website (https://gitpa.org.hk/discount/). HKCS may verify the GITPA membership status of the applicant.

Thank you for your long-term support to the GITPA!

GITPA Ex-Co 2017-18

Information

News from GITPA (December 2017)

January 2, 2018March 2, 2018

Farm Eco-tour

The Farm Eco-tour 「GITPA 新生互動農場生態遊」 was successfully held on 10 December 2017 (Sun). 22 colleagues, family members and friends participated.

It was a fulfilling and fruitful day for the participants. After arriving at the New Life Interactive Farm in Tuen Mun, the participants started their “busy” agenda with a series of activities. First of all, it was the T-shirt making workshop, in which the participants designed and painted their own unique eco-friendly T-shirt.

After having a healthy lunch of organic food, participants experienced the fun of organic farming. They learnt techniques for tilling, hoeing and raking using farming tools.

Lastly, they had an organic cookie making workshop and enjoyed their own tasty herb cookies!

Coming Activity

GITPA held its first mindfulness activity last year. Through a day of mindful experience, participants were able to relax themselves in a beautiful and tranquil environment, and apply the practices into their daily life afterwards. As there was a lot of positive feedback on the activity last year, we will organise the well-received 「GITPA 嘉道理農場靜觀遊」 again on 7 January 2018!

Valentine’s Day is coming in February. Have you chosen the gift for your beloved one? Would you consider making your own preserved fresh flower to represent your forever love? Here comes a good chance! GITPA is going to organise 「GITPA 情人節表白神器 – 「永生花」浪漫手作坊」 on 3 February 2018. Act first to enroll by 29 December 2017! Don’t miss it!

GITPA Ex-Co 2017-18

Information

News from GITPA (Novmeber 2017)

November 30, 2017December 1, 2017

News from GITPA (November 2017)

Aroma Candle Workshop

Modern life is usually stressful. If you want to relax a bit after a long day, lighting an aroma candle may be a good choice for you! Candles made of aromatherapy oils can enhance your emotion and relieve stress.

The Aroma Candle Workshop「GITPA 香薰手工蠟燭工作坊」 was successfully held on 5 November 2017 (Sun). 12 colleagues, family members and friends participated. Each of them got the chance to make two types of candles with natural herbal essential oils: soy candle and jelly candle. After learning the candle production procedures and some precautions, the participants made their own exquisite, natural and environmental friendly aroma candles. Apart from enjoying the candle making experience, the participants brought home with their handmade candles which can be a small gift to their beloved friends or relatives!

Coming Activity

Feel the taste of autumn? Want to have a relaxing weekend in the nature? The 「GITPA 新生互動農場生態遊」, which will be held on 10 December 2017, might be a good option for you! Participants can experience the fun of organic farming and make their own organic cookies! Don’t miss it!

GITPA Ex-Co 2017-18

Information

News from GITPA (October 2017)

October 31, 2017November 2, 2017

Kayak & Snorkeling Fun Day

The Kayak & Snorkeling Fun Day「GITPA 獨木舟浮潛體驗同樂日」 was successfully held on 7 October 2017 (Sat). 30 colleagues, family members and friends participated.

It was a sunny and energetic day. The 30 participants got out of the office and caught some rays at The Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups Jockey Club Sai Kung Outdoor Training Camp. Known as the “back garden of Hong Kong”, Sai Kung is a beautiful place with its natural scenery well preserved.

After doing warm-up exercises led by the professional instructors, participants learned the basic kayak and snorkeling theory and techniques such as mirror drainage, breathing tube drainage, buoyancy control in the water and techniques to avoid ear pressure, and safety practices.

They then experienced the kayak tour with the beautiful scenery on the outskirts of Sai Kung, and enjoyed their lunchbox in outdoor environment. While participants snorkeling in the colorful underwater world, they had the chance to have close contact with marine life.

Despite feeling exhausted after all the vigorous physical exercises, all participants wore a satisfying smile on their faces when they left the camp site under the sunset!

Coming Activity

Want to relax a bit after a long day? Lighting an aroma candle may be a good choice! The 「GITPA 香薰手工蠟燭工作坊」 will be held on 5 November 2017. We will share the happy moments of the activity with you in the next issue! Stay tuned!

GITPA Ex-Co 2017-18

Information

News from GITPA (September 2017)

September 30, 2017November 2, 2017

Luna Lamp Workshop

Three classes of the Luna Lamp Workshop「GITPA 浪漫月球燈製作班」 were successfully held on 2 and 10 September 2017 (Sat). 46 colleagues, family members and friends participated.

It was a romantic workshop, in which participants made their own “moon” with their beloved ones. After doing warm-up exercises led by the instructor to stretch their fingers, arms and shoulders, participants started to put on their masks to do the craftwork.

Everyone enjoyed the workshop a lot and brought home their hand-made luna lamp for celebrating the coming Mid-Autumn Festival!

Staff Consultation for Enhancing Staff Appraisal Form of AP Grade

Change in performance appraisal system affects everyone of us. Your active participation and contribution is instrumental. GITPA has received comments/feedback from members regarding the staff consultation for enhancing staff appraisal form of AP Grade. We have consolidated a submission to AP Grade Management Support Team on 22 September 2017. Thanks for all your valuable comments/feedback!

Coming Activity

After holding indoor workshops for three consecutive months, GITPA is going to organise an outdoor activity in October! The 「GITPA 獨木舟浮潛體驗同樂日」 was well-received in the past years and will be held again on 7 October 2017! We will share the happy moments of the activity with you in the next issue! Stay tuned!

GITPA Ex-Co 2017-18

Information

News from GITPA (August 2017)

September 1, 2017September 1, 2017

News from GITPA (August 2017)

Latte Art Workshop

[image src=”https://gitpa.org.hk/storage/2017/09/3.png” shape=”img-rounded”]

The latte art workshop 「咖啡拉花班」 was successfully held on August 5 2017 (Sat). 19 colleagues, family members and friends participated.

It was a fulfilling 2.5-hour workshop, in which participants had the chance to gain hands-on experience to make their own cup of 2D and 3D latte art. After observing the instructor’s demonstration, participants started from streaming the milk, making the foam and pouring the milk into the cup with right distance up, velocity and control. Some participants even managed to make their own latte art design. It was definitely an enjoyable afternoon with laughter and the sweet aroma of coffee!

[image src=”https://gitpa.org.hk/storage/2017/09/20170831_4.png” shape=”img-rounded”]

Mooncake Purchase Discount Offer

The Mid-Autumn Festival is coming soon. GITPA Ex-Co would like to take this opportunity to wish all colleagues a joyful festival with your beloved family!

GITPA has always been keen on organising recreational activities and providing welfare to colleagues. This year, we continue to arrange a discount offer of moon cake coupons for members. We have prepared special offers from six famous brands – Maxim’s, Wing Wah, Arome, Haagen-Dazs, Saint Honore and Taipan – and over 60 choices of moon cakes for members to select for enjoying with your family under the bright harvest moon light!

We have received a total of 60 orders purchasing 284 boxes of moon cakes. The moon cake coupons have already been delivered to the colleagues who placed orders in early August.

Coming Activity

[image src=”https://gitpa.org.hk/storage/2017/09/20170831_3.png” shape=”img-rounded”]

Besides enjoying the moon with your beloved ones on the day, would you like to make your own “moon”? GITPA is going to hold a Luna Lamp Workshop「GITPA 浪漫月球燈製作班」 in September. The response was so overwhelming that three classes were full in 5 hours! For colleagues who managed to apply for the Workshop, see you there!

GITPA Ex-Co 2017-18