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Remembrance Day 2002 | Path To Peace Award 2003

Dedication Ceremony of the Eric Hotung International Law Center

Remembrance Day 2002 - November 10th 2002, Hong Kong

Thank you very much, that was very elegant and your usual generous self. I like to welcome all of you here today for the annual luncheon that follows the solemn services and ceremonies of the commemoration. The celebration to commemorate the memory of our glorious dead who in the flower of their youths gave their precious lives so that we could live our lives in harmony with our families, so it would seem... and the subsequent decades we basked in our comfort and complacency forgetting those times when faced by the horror of terrorism and the shape of Fascism, which affected not only the stability and civilization in Europe but also that of the world. It calls to mind the final solution, that is the application of extermination of the Jewish race and Judaism.

Fortunately for mankind, Britain who stood alone at that time after Dunkirk and its people were the only bulwark between Nazi Germany fascism and freedom. And from its ranks, they would produce an outstanding leader in the form of Winston Churchill who cobbled together a coalition of countries like the Americas, Canada, the United States, Africa, Russia, China, the Caribbean, India, Burma. They all came together to forge in company an army of a new day which vanquished the enemy and put the legions of night and terror to flight. Peace followed and we were complacent and thought that it would go on indefinitely….. But last year terrorism once again raised its hideous head and combining ancient fanaticism and modern machinery mercilessly slaughtered thousands of Americans whose country is well known for its compassion, which compassion is the core and credo of its international philosophy.

In the continuing mirror of time, as Shakespeare would have said, there was no reason to believe that this disaster would not be followed by others. James Billington the eminent librarian at the library of Congress has written a book "Fire in the minds of men", indeed there are fires brewing in the minds of some men. Satanic fires which would unleash a murderous venom on the rest of the world. For Americans are not alone in this. They are not exclusive targets any more. We are all in the basket so to speak and legitimate fair game. Bali should not have been a surprise for us. When we think of the sacrifice that were made by the youths who gave up their golden days so that we would be able to have today, those who died in Kohima, Imphal, the Solomons, Coral Sea, Midway, Tarawa, Iwojima, Okinawa, Saipan, Guam, all who sacrificed their lives on the altar of freedom. We must be true to their memory. And one of the ways to honor that truth is to stay plugged in and to work closely with the authorities. We have to realize that this is a nameless foe, very often invisible and we have to be very alert to the nuances of what they might give of their plans.

On a less macabre note, I would like to invite you all to join me in a toast to President Bush who has been a rock in the storm, to Prime Minister Blair and to that great friend of ours, from across the sea, President Jiang Zemin of China.

Thank you.

Remembrance Day 2002 | Path To Peace Award 2003

Dedication Ceremony of the Eric Hotung International Law Center