Speech for Yang Berhormat Datuk Seri Ong Ka Chuan, Second Minister of International Trade & Industry

Event:                Officiating Brilliance of Blossom II Concert – Mega Performances from 5 Asian Countries

Date:                 20^th Aug 2017 (Sunday)

Time:                 8pm

Place:                Dewan San Choon, Wisma MCA

Key Message:    International cultural exchanges the soft power to bolster friendship and world peace

Point 1:              MCCACC doing an outstanding job not just promoting Chinese culture, but also National unity

Point 2:              BAFM 2017 an important event to celebrate National Day with emphasis on “Negaraku”

(Salutations)

Good evening Honourable guests, and a very warm welcome to Wisma MCA.

Honourable Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun, MCA Vice President who is also Chairman of Malaysian Chinese Cultural & Arts Consultative Committee cum Organising Chairman for BAFM 2017

Your Excellency, Dr Makio Miyagawa, Ambassador of Japan

Honourable Bapak Trigustono, Minister Counsellor of Information, Embassy of Indonesia

Representatives from the various Embassies & High Commissions

Honourable Tan Sris/ Datuk Seris/Datuks/Datins

Blessed representatives from the Performing groups:

• The Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre Symphonic Band (representing Japan) 
• Inti Sumatra (representing Indonesia)
• Sigma Contemporary Group (representing Singapore)
• Be Green Group (representing Thailand)
• Huo Yuan Jia Wushu Academy (representing Malaysia)

Leaders and Representatives from the Malaysian Chinese Cultural & Arts Consultative Council (MCCACC)

Cultural & Arts Leaders and Enthusiasts,

Respected Members of the Media

(Speech Begins)

As Secretary-General of the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA), we are greatly honoured to have been invited to officiate this Brilliance of Blossom 2 – The Mega Performances from 5 Asian Countries tonight. We are also deeply honoured by the presence of His Excellency, Dr Makio Miyagawa, of Japan as well as representatives from other Embassies as well as High Commissions.

Tonight’s event would not have been possible if not for our party colleague, Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun. As Chairman of the Malaysian Chinese Cultural & Arts Consultative Committee (MCCACC) and Organising Chairman for Blossom Art Festival Malaysia (BAFM) 2017, Datin Paduka Chew and her team had worked very hard to bring this festival for us to enjoy this entire August, including this mega performance of five nations tonight. What’s more impressive is that she and her team had carried this Blossom Art Festival consecutively for two years, which is not an easy feat to emulate. Let’s give her and her committee a big round of applause.

At MCA, we are more than happy to support BAFM because promotion of Malaysian Culture and Arts is central to social development of our Nation. To support BAFM, MCA allowed use of its 55,000 square feet of display and convention areas at our headquarters building for the second year running. Here, we wish to thank Huaren Resources Sdn Bhd for providing the generous space and state-of-the-art lighting and audio visual systems, as well as the MCA Social Development Committee for its manpower to function as the BAFM secretariat.

Ladies and gentlemen, we live in a connected world today and the Second Minister for Trade & Industry, we have been directly involved in opening new markets for trade, especially the Trans Pacific Partnership, and China. Malaysia is competing hard for trade and investment to boost national economic growth, while our multinational companies explore these new trade opportunities and develop competitive advantage through technology as we embrace Industrialisation 4.0.

Needless to say, in chasing Industrialisation 4.0 where global business and trade never sleeps, this therefore put human resources under great stress. As political leaders, we must therefore take initiative to ensure holistic human development, which in our view means the Happiness Index must not be sacrificed. If Bhutan is No.1 on the World Happiness Index, we can be there too.

With the Happiness Index in mind, therefore, on behalf of the Malaysian Government, we wish to thank the MCCACC for staging this year’s BAFM 2017 to celebrate National Day with the theme of “Negaraku”. We hope that by the time the BAFM 2017 ends on National Day, 31 August, the events BAFM showcased would have helped move the needle on the Happiness Index.

Not forgetting, international cultural exchanges facilitate building of trust and understanding among nations. Events such as BAFM 2017 are the soft power to bolster friendship and World peace.

Tonight in this Second Brilliance of Blossom showcase, we will be witnessing performances representing Japan, as well as our Asean neighbours – Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand – besides our very own Huo Yuan Jia Wushu Academy. Last Sunday, at the First Brilliance of Blossom showcase, we were told that there were amazing performances from Malaysia, India and China.

Enjoy tonight’s show, ladies and gentlemen.

Thank you.

-MCA online-