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¡@¡@Following is the speech by the Financial Secretary, Mr John C Tsang, at the opening of the "Make a Difference" Youth Forum at Kwai Tsing Theatre this evening (January 21):
¡@¡@Hello everyone. Welcome to MaD 2011.
¡@¡@A year ago, I stood on this same stage, at the first ever MaD Forum, and I am delighted to return once again this year, for a number of reasons.
¡@¡@First, I am pleased to see how MaD has grown MaDder over the past year.
¡@¡@Second, it is a great pleasure to speak to some of our brightest young people from Hong Kong and around the region.
¡@¡@And third, it is a rare opportunity for me to share the stage with a rather large container!
¡@¡@Given this unusual backdrop, I would like to begin with a few appropriate words of wisdom. It has been said, "Man's mind is not a container to be filled, but rather a fire to be kindled."
¡@¡@The aim of MaD is to add fuel to the fire of imagination and great thinking.
¡@¡@To help achieve this goal, the MaD Forum this year brings together more than 1,000 participants. They include distinguished speakers and change-makers from around the world. A series of eye-opening activities will also encourage participants to think outside the box - or in our case, to think outside the container!
¡@¡@Over the past 12 months, MaD has continued to develop into a distinctive platform to inspire and to empower young people to think big and - in the words of an old advertising campaign - think different.
¡@¡@Since last year's Forum, MaD has been involved in a series of events, including organising youth ambassador exchange tours to the Shanghai Expo, participating in the Social Enterprise Summit here, launching a series of talks and holding a movie marathon.
¡@¡@This Forum is - dare I say - the MaDest event of the year.
¡@¡@Over the coming weekend, an exciting series of seminars, workshops and activities are in store for you. I hope the expert speakers and thought-provoking events will help to challenge your mindset and encourage you to explore not only yourself, but also the world around you.
¡@¡@To make the most of this Forum, please keep an open mind, embrace new ideas, and be open to challenging the established norms.
¡@¡@One man who has been able to achieve this better than most is Steve Jobs of Apple Computer. I learn from media reports that Mr Jobs is taking medical leave. I would like to take this opportunity to wish him a speedy return to health and to the company he loves.
¡@¡@Talking about Steve Jobs, I understand that he takes his mantra from a book that was published during my younger days.
¡@¡@The book I am referring to is The Whole Earth Catalog, which is best described by Mr Jobs as, "sort of like Google in paperback." On the back cover of its final issue, for real, is the catch phrase, "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish."
¡@¡@This is, indeed, an appropriate mantra for our MaD Forum participants.
¡@¡@So keep your senses open, stay hungry, stay foolish, and let's go MaD!
¡@¡@Thank you.
Ends/Friday, January 21, 2011
Issued at HKT 20:39
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