UN Peace Day
Ceremony & Gandhi Peace Concert
Fall
2009
Peace International Foundation, peace-intl.org, Hong Kong
On
September 20th, Peace International Foundation (PIF) invited a large
gathering of peace supporters to celebrate the International Day
of Peace at Cyberport Arcade through a whole-day programme. It was an
event packed with music and performances that featured the message of
peace.
The event received support from people of different ages
and backgrounds. The Peace Day event opened with Yoga for Peace and
followed by Paint for Peace by young children in the morning.
The Peace Day Ceremony started at 1.00 pm with the Hong Kong St. Andrew¡¦s Pipe Band
escorting the guest speakers onto the stage, followed by unveiling of
the Peace Pole, Observance of One Minute Silence, Ringing the Peace
Bell, and an International Fag Parade by the children after Mrs. Singh
raised the UN Flag.
Mr. Abhimanyu Singh, Director of UNESCO and
Representative in Beijing gave a keynote speech. He described the work
of UNESCO in advancing the goal of peace, and informed that the UN
General Assembly endorsed UNESCO¡¦s call for 2010 to be the
International Year of Rapprochement of Cultures. This will involve
activities on inter-religious and inter-cultural dialogue,
understanding and cooperation for peace throughout next year 2010.
Video
message from Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon was shown. Indian Consul
General in Hong Kong, Mr. L.D. Ralte gave an introduction of Gandhi¡¦s
work towards peace.
Other guest speakers included Sir David
Akers-Jones, Hon. President of PIF, Senator Ken Wong , National
President of JCIHK, and Mr. Michael Wong, PIF Peace Ambassador. To end
the Ceremony, Tharangini in Hong Kong performed the song ¡§Peace Within¡¦
especially created for this occasion by Jairam Parameswaran, the
Founder.
The Gandhi Peace Concert then proceeded with a series
of performances featuring the theme of peace. Michael Wong and his Big
Band kicked off the concert daunting pop songs. Wonderful piano recital
by Phoebus Chan, followed by Chinese tradition of lion dance performed
by students of the Li Po Chun United World College. Tharangini gave a
stunning performance by singing Gandhi¡¦s favorite song Vaishnavo
Janato.. Gandhi was brought live by a manned statue during the song
sequence. Tharangini also took the audience by surprise when they sang
the famous Chinese song ¡¥Under the Lion Rock¡¦ joined by Phoebus Chan on
the piano and PIF¡¦s Youth Committee team members. Children of Bala
Tharangini presented a song for peace, dressed up in various religious
costumes.
In addition, the Choir and Chinese percussion
performances by the Sacred Heart Canossian College students, Samulnori
Korean Drum by Kim Su Yang, ¡§The Prayer¡¦ sung by Watson Chao &
Roxanne Lo, and the classic performance by Matrix 4-tet, composed of
Sheryl Lee (piano) and her friends from the HK Philharmonic Orchestra,
Gallant Ho (violin), Anna Kwan (cello) and William Lane (viola).
The
event came to a climax as volunteers from the Youth Committee and
audiences joined the Indian choir Tharangini and Michael lead the
parade around the venue to express the joy of celebrating the Peace Day.
Towards
the end of the celebration, the Youth Committee again joined, Michael,
Roxanne, Watsons and the Sacred Heart students in the song ¡¦We Are the
World¡¦ on stage, ¡V a tribute to Michael Jackson., and urging people to
start giving and be mindful of those who are suffering.
The
entire concert was dedicated to World peace. In the speech of the
Foundation Founder, Maria Ying-Matthews, she stressed that it is her
own mission and the mission of the Foundation to motivate individuals
in Hong Kong and beyond to be proactive in spreading the message of
peace, to make a difference to those in urgent need. She strongly
believes that such a mission has to be accomplished through educating
the youth who are our future generation, to become global citizens.