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Following is the speech (translation) by the Chief Executive, Mr Tung Chee Hwa, at the World Summit Awards presentation ceremony at Government House this evening (December 18):
Dr Bruck, Mr Lee, Dr Quat, ladies and gentlemen,
First of all, let me particularly thank WSA President Dr Bruck for being here this evening.
And congratulations to the United Nations (UN) and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) for a successful Geneva World Summit on the Information Society. Attended by numerous state leaders and thousands of representatives from over 100 countries, the summit was opened by the Swiss Premier with UN Secretary-General Mr Kofi Annan as the keynote speaker. It testifies to the growing recognition in the global community of the significance of information technology (IT) in fostering international understanding and collaboration.
I am proud that at the first World Summit Awards, China has won two grand prizes and received commendations for another two projects. I am particularly delighted that one of the grand prize winners was "The Splendid Chinese Culture Website" produced by the Academy of Chinese Studies based in Hong Kong. It won the grand prize in the e-culture category with the top score among all grand prize winners. To quote the WSA international jury, "Chiculture.net is an inspiring site of great depth, media richness and comprehensive content. It provides Chinese users with an incredible array of content on Chinese life, history, literature, and culture. The combination of various multimedia formats is done in an exemplary fashion. The exhibits include most useful lesson plans linked to current Chinese education and curricula, featuring tools that assist educators as to how they can use each topic of the site in the appropriate pedagogical setting. The website serves as a powerful online national archive of Chinese history and culture over the centuries."
This is indeed a strong commendation, indicative of the high regard that the website has garnered from the global information community. As head of the website steering committee, I take special pride in this award. The project was first brought to my attention by Mr Charles Lee some three years ago. I have contributed very little apart from keeping it in view. The success of this project has gone well beyond my expectations of three and a half years ago. Therefore, I want to extend my utmost appreciation to all who have taken part in it and hope you keep up the good work.
"The Splendid Chinese Culture Website" stands out from the 803 other excellent entries from 136 countries. It shows that our age-old, but ever-renewing, Chinese civilisation is increasingly popular among the world's citizens. This website also illustrates how our heritage can be effectively conveyed through new IT means. We value this international honour both as Hong Kong citizens and as Chinese nationals. It reaffirms our long-standing commitment to promoting Chinese culture and nourishing national pride.
I expect the Academy will build on this achievement by continuing to enrich the site's content, building up a true archive of Chinese civilisation; developing its English version as the best window to Chinese culture for foreigners and overseas Chinese; and launching a version in simplified Chinese characters for our billion or so Mainland compatriots.
One major and two minor projects sponsored by the Government won in this year's WSA, testimony to the abundant innovation and dynamism in Hong Kong. This innovation and dynamism will flourish along with an increasingly prosperous Mainland China and Hong Kong.
End/Thursday, December 18, 2003
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