We celebrated our members' birthday on Wednesday, 3^rd December 2008, for those who were born in the months of October, November and December, in style with the traditional Pun Tsoi or Walled Villages' Basin Meal (i.e. food served in basins) - a special custom in the New Territories in Hong Kong for many generations.  It was not only our first birthday party at St Gabriel's Community Centre (SGCC), our new home,  it was also our biggest birthday party for the elderly in ICA's history.  More than 160 people turned up, including friends, members, staff, and management committee members.   Father Kevin and Rachel of St Gabriel's R.C. Church also came along and celebrated it with us.

We held numerous birthday parties for our elderly over the last 21 years. For Lady Katy Tse Blair, Co-founder and CEO of ICA, this was clearly a special and an emotional one.  ‘We have grown from a tiny office at 70 Bavaria Road in 1986, then 33 Giesbach Road for the last 18 years, and now, to 21 Hatchard Road at SGCC which is, as you can see, such a lovely place with plenty of room for an extensive variety of activities for our members - the possibilities are endless.  I am truly thrilled!'  Col Kay, Chairman of ICA, also added, ‘It is wonderful to see this hall full of healthy and happy senior members of ICA.  They truly are the treasure of our community in the UK.  I would encourage everyone, Chinese or non-Chinese, but especially the young ones, to come and meet them, and learn from them.'

The party started at 11:30am, and finished at around 2:30pm. Some stayed behind for mah-jong, other card games, or ping pong, especially Katie Lau, one of our ‘£1K' members who came all the way from Brighton for this special occasion.  During this 3-hour celebration, besides the excellent Pun Tsoi prepared by our enthusiastic kitchen staff, helpers and volunteers, we also had karaoke, and lucky draw.  Congratulations go to the birthday boy, Professor Peter Clark who won the first prize!  Above all these, we had great company, such as Dr Stella Ma (the youngest daughter of Mr HO Kam Tong whose ancestral house has recently been transformed into the Sun Yat Sen Memorial Museum in Hong Kong) and her son, and all of you!

Once again, from all of us at ICA, Happy Birthday to those of you who were born in the months of October, November, and December!  Hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.  If you missed it (and the Pun Tsoi), don't worry, more to come!  Stay tuned!

A photo album is available at the Gallery.

(Reported by Rosanna Lau)