Your Honorable, Lady Carol Kidu, Minister for Welfare and Social Development,
Rector, Father Albert Lenon,
Principal, Father. Jess Escala,
Teachers,
Dear Students,
Ladies and Gentlemen:
It gives me great pleasure to present a table tennis table to Don Bosco Technical School. The staff and the students must be grateful to Lady Kidu. It was her who asked me to give you a cement table tennis table first. But after my staff saw your beautiful hall, I decided to give you a better quality table. So I requested my colleagues in our Foreign Ministry in Beijing to buy a top quality table tennis table and had it shipped from several thousand miles away to your school.
I think we must all learn from Minister Carol Kidu to serve the people well. She is so energetic, so warm-hearted in fulfilling her duty. She is very much concerned about the welfare of the women, the children, the disabled and many others in PNG.
How can you be just like Minister Kidu to serve your people well? I believe, first, you must value your opportunity to study at college. Not every youth in your country can afford to enter college. Second, You must study hard to master the necessary knowledge, which you need to serve your people. Third, you must have good health, otherwise though you are well educated, you will not have the physical capability to work well for the society.
And how to build good health? You must take an active part in sports to keep fit. Playing table tennis is one of the ways to accomplish it.
China was once called "the sick man in East Asia". Because of the corruption of the Ching Dynasty government in the mid 19th century, the people were not able to defend China's territorial integrity, sovereignty, and independence. Old Russia took away about 1.5 million square kilometers of landmass from China. And Hong Kong was once occupied by Britain, Macao by Portugal, Taiwan by Japan. Only after the P. R. China was established in 1949, new China became strong and prosperous step by step. And Hong Kong and Macao return to China respectively in 1997 and 1999. Today, we are still aspiring for the reunification of Taiwan with China.
Only after people get enough food and clothing can they have the opportunities to participate in sport and keep fit.
Table tennis has become the national sport of China. It is the most popular sport in my country, especially in schools. China is now called the kingdom of table tennis. As early as in 1959, a Chinese table tennis player named Rong Guotuan won China the first Table Tennis Man's Single championship. This was a great inspiration to the whole Chinese nation. By the year 2002, the fiftieth anniversary of the setting up of the Chinese National Table Tennis Team, it has won 125 world championship titles, wrapping up all the table tennis gold medals three times at the World Cups and twice at the Olympic Games. Just in last month, at the 47th World Table Tennis Championships held in Doha, Qatar, the Chinese men's team took home for the 14th time the Swaythling Cup and the women's team for the 15th time the Corbillion Cup.
With the robust economic growth, the Chinese government allocated more resources for the development of sports. China has become one of the world top competitors in sports. In the year 2000 Olympic Games held in Sydney, China harvested 28 gold medals, 16 silver, and 16 bronze, next only to the US and Russia. Now the Chinese athletes are actively preparing to compete in this year's Olympic Games in Athens. At present, China is also in the process of preparing to host the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. We hope by that time some PNG athletes can go to Beijing to participate in the Olympic Games.
Playing table tennis is also an important way in promoting international friendship. Nowadays, hundreds of Chinese table tennis players are playing or coaching players in other countries. This reminds me of a most touching story which took place among the Chinese and American table tennis players. In 1971, the U.S. government still refused to recognize the government of P. R. China. When an international table tennis game was held in Japan, the Chinese government took the opportunity to invite the U.S. table tennis team to visit China. The young American table tennis players were deeply impressed by what they had seen in China. This visit opened the door for the people-to-people exchange between China and the U.S. The late Premier Zhou Enlai of China warmly praised this visit and said passionately, "the small ball of table tennis turned the big ball of the globe."
Finally, I hope the staff and students of your school will make good use of the table tennis table to keep fit, and wish you every success in your academic endeavor.
Thank you.