Speeches and Transcripts

23 September 2008

Briefing Hall, Guanghua Building, Fudan University

The honourable President Wang Shenghong, members of the University leadership, faculty members and students,

It’s a great pleasure to be here today. I must thank Fudan University for giving me the opportunity to meet with you at the school campus on this beautiful autumn day. The first Fudan K. Wah Day is a fine testimony to the longstanding friendship between Fudan University and K. Wah Group. It is also a new milestone in our cooperation.

My friendship with Fudan University and President Wang goes back a long way. When President Wang and I meet, we often talk about the importance of education for the future development of our nation. I believe we share the same vision. As an integral part of the community, an enterprise is naturally concerned with the training of human resources. I am grateful that the Fudan K. Wah Day event has been organised with the encouragement of President Wang and other members of the University leadership. I hope the interaction between Fudan and K. Wah in the future will facilitate the sharing of resources between the University and K. Wah, in fulfilment of the aim of “Interactive Development and Co-prosperity”.

The Beijing Olympics which ended last month has been a splendid showcase of our national character and our spirit of solidarity, innovation and meticulous rigor, of which I am immensely proud whether as a sports lover or as a Chinese national. However, we must not forget that the success of the Beijing Olympics has been built upon the foundation of hard work and dedication. Our nation has come a long way achieving what she has achieved today against all odds.

During the Olympics, I watched a movie called The One Man Olympics (《一個人的奧運》). It is the story of China’s first participation in the Olympic Games in 1932 with only one athlete, Liu Changchun (劉長春), representing our nation. Because of the ordeal of war, poverty and backwardness in education, only one person out of a population of more than 400 million people at that time was able to participate in the Olympics. Over the past decades, our nation has endured step by step along a path of hardships, before our fellow-countrymen and women are able to enjoy better living standards as they do today with the gradual implementation of universal education. However, the country will face more challenges in economic development and social harmony in the future as it grows in prosperity. As intellectuals, you are among the elites of the nation who more than anybody else are looked upon to shoulder the responsibility of making this country stronger and richer.

Recently, China’s Olympic gold medallists paid a visit to Hong Kong and stayed at the hotel operated by our Group. I was impressed by the look of determination and hope in the eyes of our young victorious athletes. I believe the training of talents for the society is no different from the training of athletes. In addition to outstanding sportsmen and women, we also need good coaches and a programme for the long term. You are the future gold medallists in different sectors of the society, and the faculty of Fudan would be your dedicated coaches whom we must give credit to.

It is a great pleasure and honour for me to be given the opportunity to make modest contributions to the rebuilding and restoration of the “President’s Building”.

It is my sincere wish that we would work hand in hand with Fudan in corporate personnel training and team-building, and that we could get together in September every year to celebrate our friendship.

Thank you!

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