2019 Annual General Meeting and New Year Party

2019 Annual General Meeting and New Year Party

Date: Thursday, Feb 21st, 2019

Time: 6:30pm to 9pm

Venue: Canadian Trade Office in Taipei (CTOT), No. 1, Songzhi Road, 6F, Taipei

Cost:
Members FREE
Non Members: NT$600 (If you’re not a member yet, or if you need to renew, you can register and pay for 2018 membership at the reception.)

Refreshments and drinks will be served.
Please click here to register! https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe4QTTPhhpiFtkJKgNUL6nQn_Be3FXx_cpvaeA7YmhFU9LEsg/viewform?usp=send_form

**As CCCT’s voting member, your vote is required at the AGM. For those who are not able to attend please fill out the attached proxy form and email it back to us. Please specify in the email the full name of your assigned proxy.

The proxy must be a voting member with the CCCT. If you need further assistance with this, please contact Emily at info@canchamtw.com, thank you. Please write to Emily if you require a proxy form.

We look forward to seeing you there!


An Invitation from Our Chairman

Dear Members and Friends,

On behalf of the Canadian Chamber’s Board of Directors and Supervisors, I would to thank you for your continued support and patronage to the Canadian Chamber. This year has been another successful year for the Chamber, both in terms of activity and membership.

Our signature event, Celebration Canada, drew 9,000 people this year, benefiting from being able to hold the event in the same location the past three years: Hakka Cultural Park. We hope to see you out at Celebration Canada 2019 on June 29th!

The fourth annual MacKay Gala Charity Ball was held this year and we are already busy planning our fifth gala for 2019. The event is a tribute to a great Canadian, whose legacy is well known and respected in Taiwan. By working with MacKay Memorial Hospital, and through the generous participation of sponsors, we were able to raise over 300,000NT for the Children’s Ward in 2018. This event has become a successful CCCT signature event and has earned its place amongst other well-established balls and galas in Taiwan. To date, we have raised close to 1.5 million dollars for the Children’s Ward at MacKay Memorial Hospital.

On a personal note, I would also like to thank our members and the Board of Directors for supporting me as Chairman. It is always an honor and a privilege for me to be associated with the Chamber and the good work it does! The Chamber’s Board of Directors and committee members are always looking for new people to get involved and I encourage anyone who is interested and has time, to join our all volunteer board in this very worthwhile cause.

Finally, I wish you all a happy, healthy, and prosperous Lunar New Year!

 

Mr. Jean Christophe Guedon

Chairman, Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Taiwan

2018 CCCT Annual General Meeting

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Taiwan is honored to be hosting its AGM meeting for our voting members.

About our Annual General Meeting

The CCCT’s Annual General Meeting is held each year. This is when CCCT voting members elect the Board of Directors and Supervisors for the next two years. We also approve the budget and proposed amendments to the Articles of Association. This event usually draws an attendance of around 60 member representatives who are chief executives and senior management from various industries.

Our AGM is also an opportunity for our members to mix and mingle while enjoying some food and beverages, courtesy of the CCCT.


Dear Members and Friends of Canada,

The Board of Directors and staff of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Taiwan (CCCT) would like to wish you a happy and healthy 2018!

We are pleased to announce that the CCCT will be hosting our Annual General Meeting (AGM) on February 13, 2018. It is our honor to extend an invitation to you to attend our AGM:

Date: Tuesday, February 13, 2018
Time: 6:30pm-9pm
Location: MacKay Room, the Canadian Trade Office in Taipei (CTOT); (6F, No.1 Songzhi Rd.)
Cost: Members-Free; Non-Members: NT $600 (Don’t worry, if you’re not a member yet, or if you need to renew, you can do so at the AGM!)

Register for the AGM here!

We appreciate the Canadian Trade Office in Taipei for its continuing support to the CCCT and for hosting the CCCT’s AGM in their MacKay Room once again.

2017 has been an extraordinary year for the CCCT as we were able to continue to build our membership and to hold signature events with great success. Refreshment and drinks will be served. We hope all members and friends of the CCCT can come and join us!

We look forward to seeing you there. Please don’t forget to mark your calendar!

**To those of you who are unable to attend, please contact our Managing Director, Ms. Judy Chen, at info@canchamtw.com to find out how you can vote by proxy.

Register for the AGM here!


2018 Directors and Supervisors Nominations

**Note that the current CCCT Directors and Supervisors were voted into a two-year position by our members at our 2016 AGM when CCCT voting members approved the updates to the Articles of Association.

Directors Up For Renewal

  1. Jean Christophe Guedon, HESS International
  2. Jenny Kuo, Joyear Construction
  3. John Kellenberger, Reach To Teach Consultants
  4. Josh Yang, Able International
  5. Miriam Smith, Dolls Model

Directors Completing Their Second Term (Automatic Renewal)

  1. Jenna Robinette, Meimeiwawa Multimedia

Nominees

  1. Alex Chun Long Chen, Fu Hsun Fiber Industries
  2. Brandon Thompson, ADOGA
  3. Julia Buss, CTOT
  4. Steven Clark

Supervisors

  1. Leo Seewald, Blackrock
  2. David Bostwick, Canadian Trade Office in Taipei
  3. Kenny Peng, PE PharmEng International
  4. Carrie Kellenberger, Reach To Teach Consultants
  5. Anthony van Dyck, Ikky

The Agenda of the Annual General Meeting is:

  1. Approval of the Minutes from the 2017 Annual General Meeting
  2. Treasurer’s Report and Approval of the Financial Statements for the year-end
  3. Chairwoman’s Report
  4. Election of Directors for the term commencing 2018 – 2020.        
  5. Announcement of the CCCT’s new 2018 to 2020 Chairperson
  6. Celebrate! The CCCT had a great year in 2017 and we couldn’t have done it without you, our valued members and friends of Taiwan and Canada.

Voting Members unable to be present personally at the meeting are requested to complete, sign and return the enclosed form of proxy. If you would like to vote by proxy, please get in touch with our Managing Director, Ms. Judy Chen at info@canchamtw.com


 

2017 CCCT Committees

Business Lunch Committee
Chair: Anthony van Dyck
Committee Members: David Bostwick, Shannon Watson

Celebration Canada Committee
Chair: Carrie Kellenberger
Committee Members: Miriam Smith, David Bostwick, Anthony van Dyck, Leo Seewald, Brandon Thompson, Steven Clark

Cemetery Committee
Co-Chairs: Anthony van Dyck and Pierre Loisel (Sr.)
Committee Members: Leo Seewald, Pierre Loisel Junior

Communication Committee
Chair: Carrie Kellenberger
Committee Members: Jenna Robinette, Anthony van Dyck, Caroline Hosey

MacKay Gala Committee
Chair: Jean Christophe Guedon and Jenny Kuo
Committee Members: Carrie Kellenberger, David Bostwick, Leo Seewald, Shannon Watson, Kenny Peng, Caroline Hosey

Membership Committee
Chair: Jean Christophe Guedon and Shannon Watson
Committee Members: Carrie Kellenberger

Small Business Committee
Co-Chairs: John Kellenberger and Josh Yang
Committee Members: Carrie Kellenberger, Joe O’Brien, Alex Chun-Long Chen, Jenna Robinette

Dragons’ Chamber Taiwan
Chair: John Kellenberger
Committee Members: Elias Ek, Josh Yang, Alex Chun-Long Chen, Carrie Kellenberger

Managing Director for all CCCT Committees: Ms. Judy Chen

Taiwan Lantern Festival – Sending Wishes to the Sky

The lighting of Kongming lanterns, also known as sky lanterns, has been a popular tradition for centuries throughout most of Asia. Like a hot air balloon, the lantern is propelled by a small flame that guides it up towards the sky during the Taiwan Lantern Festival each year.

Taiwan Lantern Festival 

In Taiwan, lighting Kongming lanterns is especially popular during the Lunar New Year holiday. The locals believe that these lanterns carry their prayers to the sky to bring them a fruitful and fortunate new year.

In Pingxi, there is an annual festival where thousands of lanterns are floated into the sky together. It is said that the floating lights resemble a constellation of stars as the lanterns flicker and float away into the night sky.

Though watching thousands of lanterns fly into the sky together is a majestic site, fighting the crowds and getting to Pingxi can be a bit of a hassle. It takes some advance planning.

Personally, I would advise getting a hotel in Pingxi if you decide to go, otherwise it can be challenging getting back to Taipei after the festivities end.

If you are like me and prefer a more relaxing way of doing things, then I suggest visiting Shifen, just three train stop before Pingxi to send your lantern of hopes and dreams skyward.

Lighting lanterns is available at all times of the year, so you don’t have to wait until the new year festivities to have this special, memorable experience.

As soon as you exit the train at Shifen station, you will be in the heart of the charming old street. Shops selling souvenirs, Taiwanese sausages and other delicacies, and artisan crafts stalls fill the market along the tracks.

If you walk beyond the train tracks, you can visit the stunning and magnificent Shifen Waterfall, which is just a 15-minute walk from the town’s center.

Signs mark the waterfall trail, so it is easy to find upon arrival.

There are many shops selling the Konming lanterns in the market area. The train passes by every 30 minutes, so during this time gap, people go onto the tracks to send their lanterns into the sky. Before sending the lanterns up and away, you can decorate your lantern using a traditional Chinese paint brush and black ink.

The shops provide an easel-like stand to paint the lantern on the side of the train track. You are free to express yourself in anyway that you wish.  Some people paint pictures, others write a message, and some traditionally write their prayers or wishes.

When I visited Shifen, I traveled with my brother, so we set up the stand in a way where we could not see what the other was paining until we were finished. It was amusing how differently we interpreted what to do with the lantern. Sending the lantern into the sky was a joyful moment, and it will be a memory I cherish for a long time.

In order to go to either Shifen or Pingxi, take the northbound train from Taipei Main station to Ruifang station.  Make sure not to take the Keelung northbound train.

Once you arrive at Ruifang station, you will transfer to the Pingxi Line. Shifen is only three stops down, while Pingxi is a total of six stops. Overall the trip takes about an hour and half, maybe two hours if you have to wait for the trains.