The following definitions of terms shall be adopted for the purpose of interpreting the Constitution:

(a) "University" or "HKUST" shall mean the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, unless otherwise stated.

(b) "Department" shall mean the Department of Physics, HKUST., unless otherwise stated.

(c) "Constitution" shall mean the Constitution of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Physics Alumni Association, unless otherwise stated.

(d) "HKUSTAA" shall mean the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Alumni Association, unless otherwise stated.

(e) "Association" shall mean the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Physics Alumni Association, unless otherwise stated.

(f) "School" shall mean the School of Science, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, unless otherwise stated.

(g) "Executive Committee" shall mean the Executive Committee of the Association, unless otherwise stated.

(h) "Member" shall mean the Member of the Association, unless otherwise stated.

(i) "AGM" shall mean the Annual General Meeting of the Association.

(j) "EGM" shall mean the Extraordinary General Meeting of the Association.

(k) "GM" shall mean the General Meeting of the Association, which may be an AGM or an EGM.

(l) All plurals shall be deemed to include the singular and vice versa.

2.1.1 The full English name of the Association shall be "The  Physics Alumni Association (HKUST)", and abbreviated as HKUSTPAA.

2.2.1 The Association is an affiliated association of the HKUSTAA. The administration and finance of the Association shall be independent of that of the HKUSTAA.

2.2.2 Full Members of the Association are also Affiliated Members of the HKUSTAA. A Full Member of HKUSTAA does not automatically become a member of the Association.

2.3.1 The official languages of the Association shall be English and Chinese, both enjoying equal status. Either of the two languages may be used in any official meeting, function and document. If both languages are used, the English version shall be referred to whenever there are ambiguities. Chinese, in its oral form, shall mean the Cantonese dialect and/or Mandarin.

2.4.1 The objectives of the Association shall be to

1. cultivate a sense of belonging within the Department, the School of Science and the University;
2. promote the relationship among alumni from different years;
3. carry on the spirits and culture of the Department, the School of Science and the University;
4. represent the Association as a whole; and
5. assist the development of the Department, the School of Science and the University.

2.5.1 The session of the Association's Executive Committee shall commence at
the conclusion of the Annual General Meeting and terminate at the conclusion
of the next Annual General Meeting. The session shall normally coincide with
two calendar years.

The Association shall comprise the following types of members:

1. Full Members;
2. Associate Members; and
3. Honorary Members.

3.2.1 All graduates of the Department shall be eligible for Full Membership of the Association.

3.2.2 All current staff and students of the Department shall be eligible for Associate Membership of the Association.

3.2.3 Honorary membership may be conferred by the GM upon any person who, in the opinion of the GM, has rendered outstanding service to the Association of has distinguished oneself by eminence in society.

3.3.1 All Full Members shall have the rights:

1. to participate in the functions of the Association and be subjected to rules and regulations governing those particular functions;
2. to vote and to speak in General Meetings;
3. to nominate, to second and to be nominated for Election;
4. to inspect the minutes of General Meetings;
5. to make comments or complaints directly to the Executive Committee; and
6. to hold office as an office bearer of the Association.

3.3.2 All Associate Members shall have the rights:

1. to participate in the functions of the Association and be subjected to rules and regulations governing those particular functions;
2. to speak but not to vote in General Meetings; and
3. to make comments or complaints directly to the Executive Committee;

3.3.3 Honorary Members shall be entitled to all rights of Associate Members.

3.4.1 All Full Members shall have the obligations:

1. to abide by the Constitution of the Association;
2. to abide by the resolutions passed in General Meetings;
3. to not act in any manner detrimental to the interest and welfare of the Association; and
4. to pay the prescribed subscription fee to the Association.

3.4.2 All Associate Members shall have the obligations of Full Members.

3.4.3 Honorary Members shall have the obligations of Full Members except they need not pay the subscription fee to the Association.

4.1 General

4.1.1 The resolution of a General Meeting shall be regarded as having the highest authority in all matters affecting the Association. The resolution of a General Meeting can only be revoked by subsequent General Meetings or General Polling.

4.1.2 General Meetings include the Annual General Meeting and Extraordinary General Meetings.

4.2.1 The General Meeting shall have the power to:

1. accept, suspend and dismiss Members;
2. decide the working direction;
3. dismiss any Executive Committee Members;
4. by-elect any Executive Committee Members;
5. amend the Constitution;
6. interpret the Constitution; and
7. dissolve the Association.

4.3.1 The Chairman of the GM shall be the President of the Executive Committee.

4.3.2 In the absence of the President, the GM shall have the right to elect the Chairman of the GM from among those attend the meeting.

4.4 Secretary of GM

4.4.1 The Internal or External Secretary of the Executive Committee shall be responsible for taking notes and preparing minutes of all General Meetings.

4.4.2 In the absence of the Internal/External Secretary, the Chairman shall appoint a Full Member with one's agreement to take up the Secretary's responsibility.

4.5 Notice

4.5.1 Notice of General Meeting, together with the agenda, shall be delivered to all Members at least four weeks before the Meeting.

4.6 Quorum

4.6.1 Ten percent or 20 Full Members, whichever is the less, shall form a
quorum for the General Meeting.

4.6.2 No business shall be transacted at any General Meeting unless a quorum is present and continues to be present until the conclusion of the Meeting.

4.7 Annual General Meeting (AGM)

4.7.1 The Annual General Meeting shall be held at the end of the session.

4.7.2 The business of the Annual General Meeting shall be to

1. receive and adopt the minutes of the previous Annual General Meeting together with the minutes of all Extraordinary General Meetings, which may have been held since the previous Annual General Meeting;
2. receive and adopt the Annual Report of the Internal Secretary of the current session of the Executive Committee;
3. receive and adopt the Financial Report including an Audited Financial Statement and a Balance Sheet prepared by the Treasurer of the current session of the Executive Committee;
4. elect the Executive Committee of the next session; and
5. discuss other motion(s) stated in the agenda in the Annual General Meeting. The motion(s), supported by at least 10% or 30 of the Full Members, whichever is the less, wishing to bring before the Annual General Meeting, shall be delivered to the Executive Committee two weeks before the Annual General Meeting.

4.8 Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM)

4.8.1 The Executive Committee shall have the right to convene an EGM for any purpose whenever necessary.

4.8.2 Except for the case of dismissal of Executive Committee Members (see 5.5), if there is a requisition signed by 10% or 30 of the Full Members, whichever is the less, an EGM shall be convened by the President of the Executive Committee within two weeks after the requisition.

5.1.1 The Executive Committee shall be elected individually in the AGM from and by Full Members and shall hold office from the conclusion of the AGM in the year of their election until conclusion of the AGM in the following year.

5.2.1 The Executive Committee shall have the power to:

1. represent the Association in all matters;
2. organize functions to achieve the objectives of the Association;
3. handle the daily affairs of the Association;
4. implement the resolutions of the General Meetings;
5. take appropriate actions in response to cases of emergency; and
6. not receive any salary or remuneration but they shall be indemnified out of the funds of the Association in respect of traveling and other expenditure properly incurred from the affairs of the Association.

5.3 Composition

5.3.1 The Executive Committee shall be composed of at least the following members:

1. a President;
2. a Vice-President;
3. a Treasurer;
4. an Internal Secretary;
5. an External Secretary;
6. a maximum of 8 Committee Members other than the above.

5.4 Responsibilities of Individual Members

5.4.1 The President, being the chief of the Executive Committee, shall:

1. govern the Association in all affairs;
2. preside over all meetings;
3. co-ordinate the work of the Executive Committee and individual office bearers of the Association;
4. act as an advisor to the immediately succeeding Executive Committee of the Association after expiration of his term of office; and

5.4.2 The Vice-President shall in general assist the President in all affairs, and, in the absence of the President, shall monitor the work of the Executive Committee and individual office bearers.

5.4.3 The Internal Secretary shall be responsible for

1. preparing and keeping agenda and minutes of all meetings of the Association;
2. keeping records of all activities of the Association;
3. presenting Annual Report at the Annual General Meeting;
4. preparing and keeping all general correspondences and documents of the Association;
5. filing and keeping record of all Members; and
6. passing all filed records to the succeeding Secretary.

5.4.4 The External Secretary shall be responsible for

1. preparing and sending the letters to members, person related and other organizations.
2. helping the President in communicating with publics and community.

5.4.5 The Treasurer shall be responsible for

1. preparing the Annual Budget and Annual Financial Report and presenting them in the Annual General Meeting;
2. keeping in the Association's Accounts book a continuous record of all financial transactions and producing official receipts for all payments;
3. providing relevant information to facilitate auditing of the Accounts.
4. past all financial accounts to the succeeding Treasurer.

5.4.6 The Committee Members shall assist the President in all general affairs of the Executive Committee.

5.5 Quorum of the Executive Committee Meeting

5.5.1 No Executive Committee Meeting should be conducted without a quorum of three or more of the Executive Committee Members, including two of the Presidents, Internal or External Secretary, Treasurer.

5.6 Dismissal of Executive Committee Members

5.6.1 At the request of no less than 5% or 30 of the Full Members, whichever is more, an Extraordinary General Meeting can be called solely for the purpose of dismissing the Executive Committee Member.

5.6.2 The responsibilities and authorities of the Executive Committee Member will be suspended by the time one's dismissal is adopted.

5.6.3 Only Full Members shall have the right to vote on the motions and dismissal of any Executive Committee Member. Two-third majority votes are required for a motion of dismissal.

5.7 Resignation of Executive Committee Member

5.7.1 Any Executive Committee Member wishing to resign shall give written notice to the Executive Committee in no less than 30 days.

5.8 Vacancies

5.8.1 In case of vacancies in membership of the Executive Committee, Full Members can fill the position(s) through by-election.

6.1.1 The Executive Committee shall be nominated by at least two Full Members of the Association. All nominations shall be in the form of cabinets of the prescribed composition. All members in the nominated cabinets shall be Full Members of the Association.

6.1.2 All nominations shall be received by the Executive Committee at least four weeks before the election, which shall be held in the AGM.

6.2 Voting

6.2.1 Only Full Members shall have the right to vote. Each Full Member shall only vote for one nominated cabinet.

7.1.1 Financial period of the Association shall coincide with the Association session.

7.2.1 The Executive Fund includes the outstanding balance, membership fee, donation and proceeds of the last financial period. Furthermore, transactions of the Executive Fund shall be approved in the General Meeting.

7.2.2 All Executive Fund shall be used only for activities of the Association and other purposes that comply with the Association's objectives.

7.3.1 At the end of each session, the Treasurer shall prepare an Annual Financial Report which shall be presented at the Annual General Meeting.

7.4 Auditing

7.4.1 The Annual Financial Report, which shall be presented at the Annual General Meeting, will be audited by the Honorary Auditor of the Association. The term of service of the appointed auditor is one year and appointment is made through invitation by the Executive Committee.

7.5 Expenditure

7.5.1 Any expenditure of the Association shall be approved by the Executive Committee and signed by two of the three Executive Committee Members including the President, the Treasurer and one Executive Committee Member appointed among themselves.

7.6 Membership Fee

7.6.1 Full and Associate Members shall pay the prescribed membership fees to
the Association. The amounts shall only be revised at General
Meeting. Paid membership fees shall not be refundable.

7.7 Bank Account

7.7.1 The Association may open a current and/or savings account(s) in any Government approved financial institutions under the name of the Association, provided that money can only be withdrawn with two signatures from the three authorized persons, including the President, the Vice-President and the Treasurer.

8. AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION

8.1 The Procedure for Amendment

8.1.1 Request for amendment to this Constitution shall be made by at least two Full Members to the Executive Committee. An EGM may be called solely for the amendment.

8.1.2 The motion shall be voted at the GM. The amendment shall only be made by a resolution of not less than two-thirds of the Full Members voting at the GM.

9. DISSOLUTION

9.1 Requirement for Dissolution

9.1.1 Request for dissolution of the Association shall be made by two-thirds of the Full Members. An EGM may be called solely for the dissolution.

9.1.2 The motion shall be voted at the GM. The Association shall be dissolved only if the motion is passed by not less than two-thirds of the Full Members voting at the GM.

9.1.3 Before the dissolution of the Association, all assets and liabilities legally incurred on behalf of the Association shall be fully discharged, and the remaining funds shall be disposed of in accordance with the resolution at the GM.