Opening ceremony speaks to pride of Hong Kong's shining moment

HONG KONG — Remarks delivered during the opening ceremony Sunday conveyed a sense of pride with Hong Kong serving as host of the World Ophthalmology Congress, but acknowledged a tinge of sadness over recent tragedies that have beset the Chinese people. After the leaders of dozens of international societies filed in front of several thousand audience members in the ceremonial processional, Dennis SC Lam, MD, FRCOphth, president and organizing chairman of the WOC, told attendees in his opening speech that he "stands before you with mixed emotion."

"As a global citizen and as a Chinese, my heart goes to the people afflicted with pain in China," he said, referring to the snow storms and earthquakes in recent months that left death and destruction in their wake. He asked the audience to observe a minute of silence.

Striking a lighter tone, Prof. Lam congratulated the organizers of the congress for its success, calling the WOC the "Olympics of ophthalmology."

Just as Beijing lost to Sydney in 1994 in its bid to host the 2000 Olympic Games, Hong Kong also lost to Sydney in its bid to host the WOC in 2002, he said. But this year, Hong Kong is hosting the WOC and Beijing will host the summer Olympics in August. "There is a saying that failure is the mother of success, which is coincidentally applicable to ... both Olympics," he said.

Prof. Lam's comments were followed by those of John Tsang Chun-wah, JP, acting chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, who discussed how the WOC started in 1857 with a meeting of 150 ophthalmologists in Brussels.

"At that time, Hong Kong was little more than a fishing village on the China coast. How things have changed," Mr. Tsang said. "This year, the congress brings together some 10,000 eye specialists from around the world, including 3,000 from mainland China. And Hong Kong has evolved from a little fishing village into a modern, international business and financial center that is the event capital of Asia."

Bruce E. Spivey, MD, MS, MEd, the ICO president, and Yasuo Tano, MD, Asia-Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology president, also offered welcoming remarks. Dr. Spivey noted that the Olympic slogan of "One World, One Dream" is also applicable to the WOC.

"I challenge every one of us to commit [ourselves] ... to the eradication of blindness, particularly in developing countries," he said.

The speeches were followed by an award presentation ceremony and performances in Chinese martial arts, traditional "face changing" and a fluorescent dragon dance.