Dato' Dr. Rameez gave the officiating speech yesterday evening.
The text of the speech:-
Penang Art Society is the oldest registered art society in Malaysia and throughout this 60 odd years, it has provided an important platform to nourishing and promoting the Malaysian art and culture scene. As we all know that people nowadays are emphasizing more towards the quality of life, arts and culture play important roles in enabling people from different background and different races to understand each other hence making this a better and peaceful planet to live in.
The Malaysian government is proud of Penang Art Society's effort in bringing Malaysia arts and culture to Australia and I would like to congratulate its President, Mr Chng Huck Theng for taking this initiative to make possible this exhibition. Mr. Chng has been heavily promoting and curating Malaysian art for the past 3 years and believe me it is not an easy task. His passion and vision for Malaysian art is always so energetic and exciting. This is an important step to not only provide an exposure for the Malaysian artists but more important sharing and bridging the bond between two great countries. There is no doubt that this exhibition will connect art lovers, collectors, galleries and the public of local Aussies to our Malaysian artists.
Tonight we see 20 Malaysian artists from the Penang Art Society exhibiting their unique creations that range from young talents to senior professionals. I am glad that some even took the effort to fly over and personally witness this historical moment for Penang Art Society as this is the first of its kind to be held in Australia. We hope that there will be more of such initiative from art associations and galleries from Malaysia. The Malaysian government will always be there to endorse and support such worthwhile activities.
Thank you,
MOHAMAD RAMEEZ YAHAYA
