Dr Teo Ho Pin and Mr Sam Tan, Vice-Presidents of SNWF

Dr Yeo Ker Cheng, Chairman of SNWF

Ladies and Gentlemen

1. Today’s magnificent event is jointly organised for the 7th year by the Singapore National Wushu Federation, the People's Association (PA) and the Singapore Sports Council (SSC). It is now a signature event, receiving critical acclaim from both local and overseas Wushu exponents. The local and international Wushu fraternities are using this platform to showcase their skills and engage in meaningful sharing of expertise and techniques to bring Wushu, dragon and lion dance performances to higher levels. This is indeed encouraging and beneficial to the development of martial arts in Singapore as well as the international arena.

2. The Wushu Federation has been playing a pivotal role in promoting Wushu as both a traditional art and a modern sport over the past four decades. Its effort receives strong support from the Singapore Sports Council as it is in line with the Sports Council's objective of promoting sports as a way of life for Singaporeans.

3. The Wushu Federation has through its many activities, such as tonight's event, brought breadth and depth to Wushu as a sport over the years. It has also identified many young athletes with good potential and successfully nurtured them to be outstanding Wushu exponents. These athletes have done our country proud by winning awards and medals at many international Wushu Championships. For example, Tan Xiang Ting won a Gold Medal at the 4th Asian Junior Wushu Championship in 2007. Our athletes also won 12 Gold Medals at the 7th International Wushu Tournament in Beijing last month. The Federation is also actively preparing its Wushu athletes for the Wushu World Championship to be held in Beijing, China, in November, and the 24th SEA Games in Thailand in December this year. Let me take this opportunity to wish the Federation and our athletes success in these two major international sporting events.

4. Wushu is also spreading roots in our schools. Since 2005 when Wushu was included as a CCA Colour Award Sport, our students' participation in Wushu has increased quite remarkably. (This year, 85 primary schools with 812 students participated in the National Inter-Primary School Competition, and 82 secondary schools with 830 students took part in the National Inter-Secondary School Competition.)

5. Wushu as a sport epitomizes the traits that we seek to nurture through our CCAs - it breeds physical and mental resilience and team spirit, while at the same time develops natural leaders. Wushu can also be used as a platform for our students to appreciate the cultures and values associated with the different forms and styles of Wushu.

6. Tonight, the Singapore National Wushu Federation is celebrating its 40th Anniversary. I wish to take this opportunity to congratulate the Federation for its relentless efforts in promoting Wushu and raising its standard over the years. I would also like to commend the Organising Committee, the Wushu Federation, People’s Association and the Singapore Sports Council for organising tonight's National Wushu Display which features many Kongfu masters from China, North America, Russia, Thailand, Malaysia and our home-grown exponents. Today’s event is also a multi-racial martial arts event as we get the opportunity to enjoy silat and Indian martial arts performances. This is a true manifestation of the spirit of "? ? ? ?" {meeting friends through Wushu}.

7. Finally, I would like to thank all the supporters and spectators for your presence this evening. Your strong support and passion for Wushu will, I am sure, spur our martial arts fraternity to work even harder to scale new heights!