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WELCOME ADDRESS BY MR NOEL HON
CHAIRMAN, SINGAPORE KINDNESS MOVEMENT COUNCIL
AT THE 5TH WKM CONFERENCE
SATURDAY 17 NOVEMBER 2007, 10.00AM
SINGAPORE POLYTECHNIC CONVENTION CENTRE
Our Guest of Honour, Dr. Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports and Second Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts
Distinguished guests, fellow Council Members, SKM members, partners, teachers, students, ladies and gentlemen,
1. A very good morning to everyone and thank you for taking time off your precious Saturday to join us for the 5th World Kindness Movement Conference.
2. It is indeed heartening to know that all around the world, there are similar movements like ours that actively engage the community to practice simple acts of kindness as a way of life. In Singapore, we are fortunate to garner the support of the schools, grassroots organizations and companies to proliferate the kindness cause. But more can be done to reach out and touch the hearts and minds of the everyday Singaporean. For this reason, we want to look beyond ourselves, to learn from others, so that we gain greater insight and a fresh perspective on how we can impact a better sense of social consciousness among our people.
3. We are privileged to have our friends from Kindness Movements in 12 countries to share with us, their experiences, programs and activities and their aspirations for a kinder world. I hope that at the end of the session today, we will all take home with us, valuable knowledge that we can apply in our own kindness-related initiatives in the community, in schools, in the office and even at home. In big and small ways, I believe we are all fully capable of making that positive difference.
4. They say ‘Kindness begets Kindness’. Seated here, each of you is an important catalyst that can help set in motion, this wonderful chain reaction. Like a small spark that rages a wild forest fire, we need to revive our passion and ignite this desire to do more good and help it spread far and wide. I am encouraged that the World Kindness Movement recently came together to produce our first book “Kindness around the World”, which we hope will inspire readers to realize that kindness is indeed a universal language spoken from the heart. My sincere thanks to Brazil, Canada, India, Japan, Scotland, Thailand and the Secretariat for your heartwarming contributions.
5. Quoting Galatians 6:9 - “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time, we will reap a harvest if we do not give up”. It has been 10 years since the World Kindness Movement’s inception and we have not only grown in number, but in resolve. I’m sure many would agree that coming together this way also helps to boost our morale as we continue to press on.
6. In ending, I hope we will all participate enthusiastically in the forum later and show our appreciation to all speakers who have put in a lot of effort, preparing their presentations. Once again, thank you Dr Vivian for your kind presence and support, and to everyone for being here. I wish you a pleasant and fruitful day.
Thank you. |
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