Howard Tong - A profile by Jean Sloane
Howard is a truly lovely man. The smile he carries in his heart lights a boyish twinkle in his eyes. He is a happy man and his joy for life is expressed in his always positive attitude.
While it’s important to recognize Howard's professional and volunteer accomplishments, the many roles he has played and the contributions he has made are well documented and easily Googled. See District Governor 2011. The details tell the tale of a life he enjoys living to the fullest, but the really fascinating bit is the man himself and what makes him, him.
Howard believes in the importance of really knowing oneself and explains that his own Clifton Strength’s Talent Assessment identifies responsibility as one of his five unique talents that make him who he is. He says “It’s true, I do not shirk responsibility”. It’s clearly more than that though. He enjoys responsibility and always has.
One of Howard’s fondest childhood memories was walking out of the bank and down Tawa Main Road every week with a bag of money, thousands of pounds in salaries entrusted to a boy of only nine years.
Howard takes great pride in both his experiences and his accomplishments but is clear to enumerate his priorities 1. Family 2. Work 3. Rotary and 4. Everything else. Interestingly “Everything else” has its own list of accomplishments including significant contributions to the performing arts as musical director and producer and more recently a personal interest in wooden models.
Howard says, “It’s quirky of me I know”. And, while it may have seemed quirky in the beginning it’s not now. In fact, he’s quite accomplished at this particular art form. “Saint Mary of the Angels church was the first one that was mine,” he said, meaning he both created the design and built it. He proudly whips out his phone and the picture he shows tells the story of a labour of love creating a replica of the beautiful historic structure in downtown Wellington.
It seems that Howard’s every accomplishment leads to yet a new opportunity. The school of architecture at the University of Victoria recently asked if he would complete a replica of St. Peter’s Anglican Church on Willis. He is pleased and proud to take on this project and is approaching it with his usual vim and vigour.
Howard has made countless contributions to Rotary over the years, his next one being Master of Ceremonies for the 2020 District Conference. That said, his proudest moment as a Rotarian was only a few weeks ago when his daughter Nicci join him as a member of the Rotary Club of Port Nicholson. On this day, his eyes twinkled and he beamed with pride.