Good Evening,
Your Excellences,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dobry Vechir, Shanovni Posly,Pani ta Panove, Ta Moi Druzi!!
Selamat Datang,
1. On behalf of the Embassy of Malaysia, I am indeed delighted to welcome you. Thank you for your kind attendance to join us in celebrating the 57th Anniversary of the Independence of Malaysia, proudly gained on the 31st August 1957.
2. Malaysia and Ukraine have always enjoyed warm and cordial bilateral ties. This year 2014 is a special year as we have forged closer friendship and cooperation, especially at the political level. Over the past few months, a record number of senior Malaysia Ministers made working visits to Ukraine. Similarly, the people-to-people relations have also increased sharply. More and more Malaysians and Ukrainians are beginning to deepen their knowledge and understanding of our two countries. I see bright future in our bilateral interactions.
3. This year is also a difficult one for Malaysia and Ukraine. The war is ravaging in eastern Ukraine. Malaysia has been hit by two unprecedented aviation disasters – the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines plane MH370 in March and the tragic downing of another Malaysia Airlines plane MH17 over Donetsk in July. In these difficult and challenging times, we have further strengthened our resolute to turn around the crisis to bring the cooperation of our two countries much closer to a greater height.
4. Dear guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,
5. In this regard, I wish to call upon all of you to join me in a moment of silence to pay tribute to those 298 perished souls of MH17.
6. [Moment of silence]
7. Thank you.
8. At this point, please allow me to express my deepest gratitude and appreciation to President Poroshenko, the Government of Ukraine, especially Vice Prime Minister Volodymyr Hroysman and other members of the Special Government Commission on the Investigation of the MH17 catastrophe for their strong commitment to pursue justice in investigating the tragic event. They have continued to keep the high-level open dialogue mechanism in place and also provided various assistances for the grieving nations all this while.
9. In particular I must confess that I truly appreciate the full cooperation provided by the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine and Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, especially those unsung heroes of the staff of the Consular, Protocol and Asia and Pacific Departments of the Ministry. They were faithfully standing along with us during the long and tedious days of the crisis.
10. Last but not least, I like to pay my most esteemed respect and tribute to all Ukrainian well-wishers who came to the Embassy to offer flowers, wreaths, soft toys, candles, notes, and prayers to those unfortunate souls. Their unconditional and firm support has provided the moral support to the staff of the Embassy to soldier on in the trying times of handling the tragedy.
11. Thank you! Djkuyu vam!
12. Slava Malaysia! Slava Ukraine!