President Chen Shui-bian received this afternoon the important officials of the Taiwan District of Kiwanis International and presidents of local chapters. The president expressed his gratitude to the Kiwanis members for their enthusiastic participation in benevolent activities and congratulated them for the club's being recognized as one of the outstanding civic organizations in the nation.
The president also hopes that the Kiwanis members would keep on helping the government, caring about society and protecting the weaker groups. The president believes that the 2005 Kiwanis action plans of "benefiting the children," "upgrading the Kiwanis to achieve a new height" and "doing its utmost to attain unity and harmony" will bring this association to a higher plateau.
The president's speech is as follows:
First, I would like to express my welcome to each of you for your presence. Under the outstanding leadership of District Governor Chris Wu, the Kiwanis International's cadres as well as the presidents of local chapters, totalling more than 300 people gathering together, reflects the unity and harmony of this association. At the same time, I would like to express my gratitude for the contributions of the Kiwanis members to society on behalf of the government. The care that you put in every corner of society has become the brightest torch of humanistic concern for fellow humans in this country.
On July 21st, the Taiwan District of Kiwanis International will be cited by the Ministry of Interior as an outstanding civic organization in Taiwan. Despite the fact that the Kiwanis wins this award every year, I still want to congratulate you since all the members of the Kiwanis deserve this distinction.
Besides, I have learned that the Taiwan Kiwanis has obtained fruitful results from the Asia-Pacific annual conference in March that was held in Australia. I would also like to express my congratulations for this accomplishment. In addition to confirming that the 2006 Asia-Pacific annual conference will be held in Kaohsiung, ex-chairman Lin was also elected as the Asia-Pacific chairman for 2007, which makes me feel proud of giving him the flag earlier at the flag presentation ceremony.
Your association is worthy of praise for many other progresses and achievements. Besides the accomplishments previously mentioned, ex-chairwoman Wu Hui-huan and ex-chairman Chu Hung-chi are also respectively elected international director and Asia-Pacific vice chairman for 2006, which is helpful in promoting Taiwan's international image.
In addition, the Taiwan District of Kiwanis International, and its former governor Wu Wen-liang had won the "honorary outstanding district" award for the second time at Kiwanis International's world congress on July 5 in Hawaii. His outstanding performance is the best example for all the Kiwanis members of the world. Congratulations again.
About providing help to the countries in need, which were devastated by the tsunami last year, the Taiwan Kiwanis has responded to the call of the NGO Committee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and donated NT$3 million to help in the reconstruction works.
Besides, the Kiwanis also cooperated with the NGO Committee of the MOFA to launch a campaign of donating relief materials. In June, it donated US$55,000 to a multi-functional children activity center in Jakarta through the help of the Taipei Economic and Trade Office in Indonesia and the Habibie Center. This act of yours was highly appreciated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Taipei Economic and Trade Office in Indonesia. After that, the Kiwanis donated US$5,000 for the reconstruction work in an island in Indonesia, promoting our country's cordial ties with other countries and friendship between the Kiwanis.
The "Taiwan Kiwanis" has also successfully rectified its name. This is not only a testimony that Taiwan is an independent country, but also allows the Kiwanis to clearly explain to the world during international meetings about Taiwan's sovereignty, which has a great bearing on the country.
In order to cooperate with the government's strategy on "People's Diplomacy," the Kiwanis has introduced the "Circle K Club, " an international university student association, this year. There are currently 570 Circle K Clubs in 13 countries of the world. This association provides opportunity to students to help other students, to bring them into the communities that need help and care about other children, give a hand to the adults who need help and accumulate their international experiences through exchanges with other countries.
The actions of the Taiwan Kiwanis are direct publicity information of the country to the world. Taiwan Kiwanis is actively expanding the promotion of our country so that our international friends would know us better. Through these exchanges, Taiwan is building even stronger ties with its international friends. I would like to express again my gratitude to the Taiwan Kiwanis for their ever-presence in international benevolent activities.
Because of the efforts of each of you, ladies and gentlemen, the Kiwanis could have the result it enjoys today. I hope that you could go on helping the government, caring about society, and caring about the weak. I believe that the goals that you have set for this year, such as "benefiting the children," "upgrading the Kiwanis" and "achieving unity and harmony" will bring this association to another higher level. Finally, I would like to congratulate you with my highest respect. Taiwan Kiwanis being led by outstanding women is a very rare phenomenon among the international societies. Congratulation to you all!