News from GITPA (July 2017)

August 1, 2017September 1, 2017

News from GITPA (July 2017)

熊仔朱古力餐包烘焙實習班

The baking class「熊仔朱古力餐包烘焙實習班」 was successfully held on July 8 2017 (Sat). 39 colleagues, family members and friends participated.

[image src=”https://gitpa.org.hk/storage/2017/09/4.jpg” shape=”img-rounded”]

Based on the instructions from the professional pastry chef, participants made their delicious chocolate teddy bear buns with their own personality and creativity. Everyone had a great time with lots of fun and took home with the soft and healthy hand-made buns to share with their beloved ones!

Coming Activity

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

Looking for a relaxing weekend? How about enjoying coffee together? GITPA is going to hold a Latte Art Workshop for you to learn latte art and make your own cup of masterpiece on August 5 2017 (Sat)! For details, please read our email “GITPA – 「GITPA 活動招募 – 咖啡拉花班」” dated July 13 2017! As places are limited (20 ONLY!), please act fast to enroll! See you there!

News

News from GITPA (Jun 2017)

July 6, 2017

GITPA belongs to all AP Grade colleagues – including YOU!

YOur Voice

The GITPA Ex-Co 2017-18 is honored to be elected as the representatives of our colleagues. We will liaise with the Management on Grade matters, including sustainable staff development, succession planning for AP Grade, promotion, staff wastage, recruitment, staff relation activities and staff communications. In order to embrace YOUR views, we hope to hear more from YOU. We hope to do more for YOU and listen to YOUR voice.

Our Activities

To help colleagues maintain work-life balance, the GITPA Ex-Co 2017-18 is now working in full swing to prepare a variety of recreational activities for YOU in the coming year. Besides annual events like hiking, we will organize other indoor and outdoor activities including baking class, latte art workshop, kayak and snorkeling fun day. The first one will be the baking class 「熊仔朱古力餐包烘焙實習班」 on July 8 2017 (Sat). Over 30 colleagues and friends have already registered. We will share our happy moments with you in our next issue. For those who registered, see you there!

Looking forward to joining our coming activities? Stay tuned to our further announcement! Do actively participate in the activities! We hope to see YOU in the coming events! Remember. YOUR inputs and participation are absolutely indispensable for GITPA to represent YOU. Do keep in touch with our Ex-Co members, watch out for GITPA news and visit the GITPA Blog on Knowledge & Information Collaborative Platform (KICP) and our website: https://gitpa.org.hk/!

WE need YOUR SUPPORT to stand for YOU!

Let’s JOIN HANDS to foster the development of OUR AP Grade!

Information

News from GITPA (May 2017)

May 31, 2017July 6, 2017

GITPA Newsletter

GITPA Newsletter 2016/17 has been published! In this issue, you can know more about GITPA’s work in the last year. We have also invited Ir. Allen YEUNG, JP – Government Chief Information Officer, Mr. Victor LAM, JP – Deputy Government Chief Information Officer (Infrastructure and Operations), and Mr. Tony WONG – Assistant Government Chief Information Officer (Industry Development) to share with us their experience of participating in IT professional associations! You can access the Newsletter at the following KICP link: GITPA Newsletter 2016/17

Enjoy reading!

Annual General Meeting

The Annual General Meeting (AGM) cum Annual Dinner was held on 17 May 2017 (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 proposed revisions on the Rules of Association were adopted, and the new ExCo 2017/18 was also successfully elected. The dinner was conducted in a pleasant atmosphere. Participants enjoyed the game session very much and some won the attractive prizes!

***Left to Right*** ***(back)*** Alpha WONG, Joshua CHAN, Winston LEUNG, Richard WONG, Angel WONG, Hebe LAU, Phyllis LEUNG, Nicole WONG, Chris LAM, YS CHAN, Dagan CHIU, SM TSE, Tony HO
***(front)*** Janice TANG, Candy CHAN, Leonard LAM, Angus TAM

	*Name*	*Post*	*Phone*	*Location*
Chairman	Ms Candy WC CHAN	SSM/JUD	2886 6403	Eastern Law Courts Building
Vice Chairman	Mr Leonard FC LAM	SSM/PO	2927 7129	FWD Financial Centre, Sheung Wan
Secretary	Miss Janice SM TANG	API/MD	2852 4749	Harbour Building
Treasurer	Mr Angus MC TAM	SM(ID)62	3655 5775	Tamar
Committee Member (Membership Secretary)	Mr Winston WH LEUNG	APII/LR	2867 5855	Queensway Government Offices
Committee Member (Editor)	Miss Nicole WY WONG	ASM(ST)21	3182 6513	Cyberport
Committee Member (Editor – Webmaster)	Mr Richard KW WONG	API/C&SD Ag.	2582 2137	Wanchai Tower
Committee Member (Social Convener)	Ms Phyllis WM LEUNG	ASM(G&R)42	2231 5420	North Point Government Offices
Committee Member (Social Convener)	Ms Hebe HW LAU	APII/ImmD	2829 4034	Immigration Tower
Committee Member (Social Convener)	Mr Tony WP HO	APII/HKPF	2860 6051	Arsenal House, Police Headquarters
Committee Member (Social Convener)	Miss YS CHAN	APII/WFSFAA	2153 2011	Cheung Sha Wan Government Offices
Supporting Member	Ms Angel OK WONG	SM/FEHD	2879 5570	Lockhart Road Municipal Service Building
Supporting Member	Mr Dagan KC CHIU	SM/EDB Ag.	3540 7330	Wu Chung House
Supporting Member	Mr Joshua MY CHAN	ASM(SEC)21	3182 6666	Cyberport
Supporting Member	Mr SM TSE	API/WFSFAA Ag.	2150 6245	Cheung Sha Wan Government Offices
Supporting Member	Mr Chris CL LAM	APII/HKPF	3660 7139	Arsenal House, Police Headquarters
Supporting Member	Mr Alpha YK WONG	APII/WFSFAA	3897 1238	181 Hoi Bun Road, Kuwn Tong

GITPA Ex-Co 2017-18

News

News from GITPA (Apr 2017)

April 30, 2017May 2, 2017

Membership Renewal Exercise 2017

The annual membership renewal exercise was successfully completed with the unfailing support from all site representatives. As of 18 April 2017, 478 and 49 colleagues joined as annual and life members respectively. Together with 287 existing life members, we have a total of 814 members, representing over 81% of the AP grade.

The 2016-17 GITPA Executive Committee (ExCo) would like to thank all members for putting trust on us, supporting us by providing views to us and participating in our events throughout the year.

Upcoming Event

The 2017 GITPA Annual General Meeting (AGM) cum Annual Dinner will be held on 17 May 2017 (Wednesday) at the Hong Kong Medical Association Club House (Wanchai Premises). We will share our work and activities in the year 2016-17. New GITPA ExCo for year 2017-18 will be also elected.

All GITPA members are cordially invited to the AGM to participate in the election of the new GITPA ExCo and meet other colleagues. The online voting result of the best glass engraving will be announced in the AGM where awards will be presented. So, please join us to share the happiness with the glass engravers who received the highest numbers of votes.

Stay tuned to our coming announcement!

GITPA ExCo 2016-17

Events

News from GITPA (Mar 2017)

March 30, 2017April 7, 2017

Glass engraving Workshop

Did anyone of you ever face the challenge of choosing a gift that you hope it will be appreciated? Choosing a gift that is unique, memorable, or even with a message that will last forever is always a challenging task, especially in those festive seasons. Glass engraving is surely a way to make a gift that can create a moment truly special.

A glass engraving workshop was organized by GITPA on 27^th February. Basic skills on glass engraving through abrasion, together with the use of the rotary drill for engraving were introduced. It was then followed by the demonstration of the artworks provided by the trainer. We also had the time to exert our creativity and imagination to create the decorative glassworks of our own.

Here were all we needed: a marker pen to draw our design, some alcohol tissue for erasing the sketch on glass, a piece of wet cloth to wipe away any dust or water as we work, and black cardboard to rest our glass on to see our design better. And the most important thing was a handy rotary drill with diamond ball burr.

We started by sketching our design on the glass with the marker pen. Design varies from some simple dot and line art to far-fetched ideas that are beyond anyone’s imagination. With the design finalized, we started engraving our glasswork using the rotary drill. The drill is so handy that even a primary school kid can handle it with the help of his parent. With some trials and assistance from the trainer, some of us started to be able to manage the engraving tools skillfully, and the final products were simply gorgeous.

As a wonderful way to end the workshop, we held a little competition to choose among ourselves the best 5 pieces of glassworks. Most of the selected artworks were, out of our expectation, produced by little kids.

Upcoming Event

The 2017 GITPA Annual General Meeting (AGM) cum Annual Dinner will be held on 17^th May 2017 (Wednesday) at the Hong Kong Medical Association Club House (Wanchai Premises). We will share our work and activities in the year 2016-17. New GITPA ExCo for year 2017-18 will be also elected.

All GITPA members are cordially invited to the AGM to participate in the election of the new GITPA ExCo and meet other colleagues. Please join us.

Stay tuned to our coming announcement and see you at the AGM cum Annual Dinner on 17^th May!

GITPA ExCo 2016-17

Events

News from GITPA (Feb 2017)

February 28, 2017March 2, 2017

Chinese New Year Hiking

As part of GITPA’s tradition to celebrate the Chinese New Year, 「雞年新春行大運 (黃泥墩，大欖涌水塘)」was held on 5^th February. Colleagues, together with their family members and friends, made a group of some 40 people joining the hiking activity. We all enjoyed the time with our minds refreshed to welcome the Year of the Rooster.

Hiking is one of the greatest ways to enjoy the outdoors, with day hiking being the most popular kind. With different trails you take, the spectacular landscape of different parts of Hong Kong unfolds before you.

Wong Nai Tun Reservoir
We started our journey by hiking to Wong Nai Tun Reservoir. Although the reservoir is small, its surrounding is tranquil and exhilarating with a view of emerald water surface. We took beautiful pictures on the dam.

Tai Lam Chung Reservoir
After around 2 hours of leisure walk, we reached the splendid view named “Thousand Islands” for Tai Lam Chung Reservoir. It looked like there are many small islands resided in the lake. Its sophisticated meandering coastline appeared to be a refined picture from the natural pattern. It’s so amazing that we have such a precious view inside the city! Tai Lam Chung Reservoir gets more and more popular and we even met some hiking friends there!

We ended our journey at Tai Tong with a view of sunset.

Hiking also has a number of benefits for the body. It requires no special equipment and you can simply start no matter how fit you are. It’s easy to adjust to any level of difficulties. No matter what level of difficulties you have chosen, your body will still be exposed to sunshine, and the level of vitamin D within your body increases.

In addition, hiking with a group of friends can feel more like entertainment than exercise. Hiking offers us chance to do away texting at our mobile phones and have face-to-face communications. It gives us some precious moments to chat, and to share the happiness and sadness with our friends and beloved ones.

There is a quote “It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves.” Reaching the top of a mountain is an impressive physical and emotional accomplishment. It reminds us that we can accomplish something in my life if we dream big and put in the work.

Upcoming Event

In February, GITPA will present a glass engraving workshop for you to decorate your favorite glassware and turn it into a personal treasure that is unique and special for you.

GITPA 2016/17

Information

News from GITPA (Jan 2017)

January 27, 2017January 27, 2017

Are you looking for a beautiful decorated cake for your next special event? GITPA offered more than just a delicious cake to fulfill your wish, we made it! A self-made cake will absolutely make your family and friends squeal with delight.

Our GITPA baking day on 8^th Jan consisted of 2 sessions. The 1st session was to make tiramisu and the 2nd session Chocolate Concorde; from traditional to whimsical, from simple to sassy.

A Chocolate Concorde Cake is a combination of two simple elements – meringue and mousse. It was created in 1969, but soon becomes the favorite of many cake lovers.

We were glad to have a chef, who formerly worked at a five-star hotel, to share with us from fundamentals to advanced techniques in making cakes.

In the cake-making process, we did not only make a cake, but also shared the enjoyable moments with friends and family. Can you see the happy faces of our members?

Proverb quotes “You can’t have your cake and eat it too”. This might be possible now if you know how to make a cake. Back to our life, be well equipping yourself, grab life by the horns and make it what you want. You deserve to pursue all that make you happy.

GITPALeaks for New APIIs 2016-17

47 new APIIs joined our GITPALeaks gathering on 13^th Jan right after the induction course. During the gathering, GITPA ExCo members shared their experiences and views with new colleagues on various topics that the new colleagues were interested to know more, such as core competencies for AP grade staff, career development and prospect, posting arrangement and the difference between working in OGCIO and ITMU. The atmosphere was open and sincere. We all had an enjoyable evening.

Upcoming events

As a tradition to celebrate the Chinese New Year, we will have our annual hiking activity “雞年新春行大運” on 5^th Feb. Hope to see you there.

GITPA wishes all our members, families and friends a happy and prosperous Year of the Rooster.

GITPA 2016/17

Events

News from GITPA (Dec 2016)

December 30, 2016January 27, 2017

Over the past few decades, “mindfulness” has been growing in popularity. It is famous for allowing us to recognize our own thoughts, feelings and behaviors.

As always, GITPA consider members’ mental and physical health as our first priority. We therefore, conducted a mindfulness introductory class, “嘉道理農場靜觀遊” to our members on 3 Dec 2016.

Mindfulness is stilling it to awareness of the flowing thoughts. As a beginner, we cultivate mindfulness through some relaxation exercise which is a systematic method of focusing your attention appropriately. Once you establish the awareness and focus, you observe the flow of inner thoughts, emotions and bodily sensations as they are.

After practising the mindfulness exercise, there was a guided tour around 嘉道理農場 to let us feel through our senses our intimate connection with the planet as a breathing living being, and to cultivate our gratitude and reverence for this miracle. From this process, we gained an understanding of our place on earth and our responsibility to the planet. In fact, cultivating the land, transforming the elements, harvesting the fruits of the season and observing the rhythms of nature are all practices of understanding, love and mindfulness.

All of our members and friends enjoyed a nourishing, insightful and joyous journey on that day.

Please stay tuned for our upcoming activities, and hope to see you soon.

GITPA 2016/17

Events

News from GITPA (Nov 2016)

November 30, 2016December 13, 2016

Autumn is always considered as the best time to get outdoors. GITPA recently organized two outdoor activities. They were surf kayaking and snorkeling (獨木舟浮潛體驗同樂日) and eco-cycling tour (錦田南生圍單車生態遊). Let us have a quick review of our adventures.

Sai Wan beach is a great place to practise surf kayaking, snorkeling and to hang out for the weekend. On 30 October, a group of GITPA members and friends joined at Sai Kung to explore its leafy landscape and sandy beaches for an action-packed day of fun! Under the guidance of our expert instructors, though we could not manage a kayak from zero to hero in one day, we all mastered the basic skills to control our kayak to the middle of the sea to kick off our snorkeling adventure, which was definitely a perfect way to get to know the beautiful underwater environment of the Sai Kung sea. Many of us were there the first time to explore the beautiful sights, which have only been accessed by a very small percentage of the population.

After taking a sea adventure, our second adventure explored the natural countryside by bicycle. Our eco-cycling tour was conducted on 13 Nov 2016. This guided tour passed through scenes of an age-old walled village, a mysterious tree house and an internationally recognized bird migration area. The view was so amazing making this an unforgettable bike tour for all of us.

Both are fantastic experience for our members and friends; there are few things more relaxing than navigating on kayak or bike to fully enjoy the beauty of the surrounding natural landscape.

Please stay tuned for upcoming GITPA activities.

Events

News from GITPA (Oct 2016)

October 31, 2016November 2, 2016

GITPA cycling adventure

Autumn flies by in a flash. It’s always a good idea to take advantage of the crisp weather and ride into the countryside to meet the authentic scenery.

Have you ever thought that “Cycle touring sounds like fun but it isn’t really for me”? “I am not in shape”, “I don’t want to do it alone”, or “I simply don’t know how to get started” are exactly the reasons to go for our cycle tour, not your excuses.

GITPA is now organizing a guided cycle tour. This guided outing is not just a workout on two wheels. First you’ll cycle to Nam Sang Wai, a place where you will be surrounded by a landscape of farms and glistening fish ponds, a place that makes you feel a world away from urban Hong Kong. After that we will visit the mysterious tree house (Kam Tin Tree House), and wind our way along Kam Tin River for a reviving Farm Flavor lunch, which emphasizes on fresh, seasonal food that is locally grown.

2016oct_news1 — The Kam Tin Tree House is an ancient Banyan tree. According to folklore, the stone structure beneath the tree used to be a Tin Hau Temple or a Q’ing dynasty village study hall. It is considered one of Hong Kong’s most important living trees.

Cycle touring is very different from car travel. It is not just cycling for exercise; a cycle touring should be a journey. Please let the autumn sun warm your cheeks, and stay curious as we believe each road should bring breathtaking vistas.

If you’re ready for a cycling adventure, grab your helmet and stay tuned to our coming announcement!

GITPA ExCo 2016-17