Text of Speech Delivered by Andrés Saavedra and Rosa Caroca, on behalf of former MTCP Participants at the MTCP Annual Luncheon at the Residence on 3rd October 2009
Dear Ambassador Abdullah Faiz,
Madame Wan Ehsan Taib
and little Ayra Faiz
Mr. Pablo García, Head of the Scholarship and Training Department of AGCI
Dear Former MTCP students,
Good Afternoon, Selamat petang, As-salaam-alaykum.
My name is Andrés Saavedra and she is Rosa Caroca; we are both Public Servants, like many of you who are here today and who have had the opportunity to travel to Malaysia. We attended the courses English for Effective Communication and Information Technology Management in the Public Sector, respectively.
For both of us this experience changed our lives in many different aspects. First of all we got to know a very special and particularly beautiful country, with amazing traditions and culture that were palpable not only in the clothes but also in the food, music and dances.
Your people has a great respect for other people, regardless of the country where they come from; but above all we also realized it is a deeply warm and religious country, which is something you can see everywhere, on the streets, architecture and stores wherever you go.
In Malaysia we also had the occasion to share with other participants who were coming from the most diverse places in our planet. This allowed us to have a broader vision of the economic, political, cultural and religious aspects of each of them.
However, we are not here to talk about the two of us; we are here to speak on behalf of each of those who have had the possibility to be trained in Malaysia; I am referring to all of those who make up the Group of Former MTCP Scholarship Holders, which - since 1997 - amounts to more than 85 people.
We are here because we would like to formalize this initiative, which has already had some positive manifestations, such as lunches, informal meetings and a big group on Facebook called MTCP-Alumni Chile that was created by Álvaro Ortiz, who is also here today.
The goal of this initiative is to basically share the different experiences we had in Malaysia not only among those who have already traveled there but also with those who will visit Malaysia in the near future. In this way, we would like to pay the Embassy of Malaysia back somehow for all the generosity and knowledge received.
We would like to formally thank the Government of Malaysia, through you Mr. Ambassador, because we know that you have put all your energy and your greatest efforts in promoting education and improving the bilateral relation between Chile and Malaysia at a technological level, among other areas.
We also want - through this small but significant present - to express our admiration and gratitude for having given us the opportunity to visit Malaysia and enjoy its warmth and beauty.
Please receive Mr. Amabassador Faiz this present on behalf of the Group of MTCP - Alumni Chile, both from those who are here and those who are away.
Rest assured that from now on you will have more friends in Chile because thanks to you and your effort, this group is growing more every year.
Terima Kasih
Thank you very much and God bless you.
www.kln.gov.my/perwakilan/santiago
