Ambassador David Adelman;
Mr David Rutherford, Dr Teo-Koh Sock Miang, Miss Hanako Sawayama, and Members of the Special Olympics community;
Janice, Deb, Michael, and friends;
Ladies and Gentlemen:

Let me first thank the American Chamber of Commerce for inviting me to join you this evening at this special Amcham event to support a very special group of people.

Let me also extend a very happy welcome to Special Olympics Asia Pacific, and to acknowledge the sterling commitment and contributions of Special Olympics Singapore.

I am also grateful to the Singapore Government as well as the very many business and civic organisations which have worked together to support Special Olympics Asia Pacific to use Singapore as its base for the region.

Allow me to bring you back half a century to the dreams of one remarkable lady, Mrs Eunice Kennedy Shriver¹ .

Committed to give children and adults with intellectual disabilities every opportunity to be accepted members of the community, Eunice put dreams into action in 1962 - she started organising annual sports competitions for them in her own backyard when she found no such opportunities existed for them.

In the fateful year of 1968, when first Martin Luther King² and then her own brother Robert Kennedy³ were assassinated, Eunice launched the first Special Olympics World Games⁴ . Held in Chicago, only two countries (USA and Canada) and 1000 athletes attended, and almost nobody watched.

Eunice recited the athlete’s oath for the first time:

“Let me win.

But if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt.”

This has become the motto of the Special Olympics movement.

Eunice also predicted that one day, there would be 1 million athletes with millions watching. She lived to see 3.4 million athletes in over 180 countries competing in more than 40,000 events each year, watched by many millions more.

Just before she passed away last year, Eunice said:

“Special Olympics belongs to the future, not to the past.”

Part of that future of Special Olympics is here in Asia. Already, the two biggest programmes in the world are in China and India, with nearly 2 million athletes between them. Be it America, East Asia, South West Asia or the large and small countries of ASEAN, we now see not only Governments providing strong support – we also see deepening partnerships with companies and non-profit agencies in health, education and sports. For this, we thank Americans in the US and around the world for setting an inclusive tone for society.

From the outset, Special Olympics aims to promote understanding, acceptance and inclusion. It transforms attitudes through a common experience of competitive sports. It is this experience that brings joy and friendship into the lives of the special athletes and gives them the hope, courage and confidence to participate in the wider community.

The Special Olympics runs over 200,000 events in the world, over a four year cycle - 99% of these events are held in villages, towns, schools and small communities within cities. These culminate in the Summer World Games. The most recent Summer World Games, held in Shanghai⁵ in 2007, was attended by 7500 athletes, watched by over 70,000 fans in the stands, and seen by more than 200 million people on television worldwide.

Each of these events, big or small, is an opportunity to involve ourselves, our family or our fellow-workers and friends, or our companies and organisations in the ideals of Special Olympics.

As many of you here know from first hand experience, those who play with or watch these athletes often find themselves asking themselves two questions:

• If these athletes can do this, what else can they do?
• If these athletes can do that, what can I achieve if I am half as brave in my own attempt?

The Special Olympics is thus not only an opportunity for us to play our part as an inclusive citizenry – it is also an opportunity for us to reflect on our priorities in life, and be inspired to do our best, individually and as a society.

Last but not least, I would like to say a very Special Thank You to the American Chamber of Commerce in Singapore, and all the volunteers and supporters of Special Olympics Asia Pacific and Special Olympics Singapore, as well as all the friends and guests here tonight. Your courage and commitment to build a better world, a world that is inclusive and compassionate for our fellow human beings, set an example for us all, in Singapore and in Asia.

Thank you.

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Footnotes:
¹ 10 July 1921 - 11 August 2009
² 15 January 1929 - 4 April 1968
³ 20 November 1925 - 6 June 1968
⁴ 19-20 July 1968
⁵ 2-11 October 2007