Investing in education is the most worthwhile investment in the future of Hong Kong. The Special Administrative Region Government has pledged to improve the quality and scope of education, but we cannot do it alone. Everyone in the community is a stakeholder in education. Everyone will have to pitch in, in one form or another, in order to realise the Education Commission's blueprint of education for the 21st century and the underlying objectives. The fine example, which your patrons have set, is therefore heart-warming and encouraging.
People are our most important asset.
We must have people of high calibre and with a global perspective if Hong Kong is to maintain its competitiveness in the global economy of the 21st century. The Millennium Plaque also signifies that the future is built on the past. DGS can look back with pride on 140 years of history which provides a solid foundation for the School's future in the challenging world of the 21st century. I shall avoid the trite claim that those were the best years of your life, but they were undoubtedly some of the most memorable. As the great wheel of change turns faster, the half-life of knowledge shortens.