Our club maintains its multicultural vigor and comprises of professional and managerial members with a desire to serve the community HISTORY OF THE ROTARY CLUB OF MACAU
The idea of setting up a Rotary Club in Macau was raised for the first time in 1938. However, due to the Pacific War, the idea did not become a reality at that time. In 1946 when Macau and Hong Kong began to recover from the effec
ts of the 2nd World War, the idea of forming a club in Macau was resurrected. Henrique Nolasco Jr., a resident of Macau, was invited to attend the weekly meeting of the Hong Kong Rotary Club. On his return to Macau, urged on by his enthusiasm, meetings were held with the then District Governor (DG) Arthur Woo and others who gave their assistance and advice for setting up a Club. On 11th January, 1947, a dinner was held at the Fat Siu Lau Restaurant at which the 36 founding members appointed their first Board of Directors. The Rotary Club of Macau was thus formed and began functioning as a provisional club. Though still lacking official recognition by Rotary International, the provisional club set its course to fulfill the ideals of Rotary by creating The Welfare Fund of the Rotary Club of Macau which was to help many worthy causes in our community such as Homes for the Destitute and Aged, the Portuguese Red Cross, the inhabitants of Taipa and Coloane, the Canossian Institute, The Salesian Orphanage, Peng Man School, Kiang Wu Hospital, The Tong Sin Tong Association, primary and commercial schools and the S. Rafeal Hosptial Maternity Wing. The Rotary Children's Library was also set up for the primary school children. On 16th June 1947 the Rotary Club of Macau received official recognition from the Rotary International and was chartered as Club No. 6662 with the then District 57. On 12th and 14th March, 1949, Macau had the honour of being the venue of a District Conference which was attended by hundreds of Rotarians from the 12 clubs in the Far East. During the 1950-51 Rotary Year, The Rotary Club of Macau had the privilege of having its Past President Pedro G. Lobato elected District Governor. In this capacity he attended the Rotary International Convention in Detroit, USA. In 1951, as of result of the concerted efforts of all Rotarians united in the ideal of service, the Rotary Club of Macau opened the Lara Reis Anti-Cancer Clinic. It was located at Sol Poente, the residence of the late Rotarian Fernando Lara Reis who had bequeathed it in his will to the Portuguese Welfare Organization Santa Casa da Misericdia which subsequently administered the Clinic. In the 70's, the development of Macau led to growth in the Rotary movement here. New clubs were established, the Rotary Club of Hou Kuong was chartered in 1979, the Rotary Club of Macau Central in 1984, the Rotary Club of Amagao in 1986, the Rotary Club of Guia in 1993 and Rotary Club of Macau Islands in 1997.
