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Monday 8th June 2020
Auki, Malaita Province
Ministers of the Executive, Members of the Malaita Provincial Assembly, the Provincial Secretary for Malaita Province, senior MPG officials, fellow Malaitans, ladies and gentlemen.
Today we are gather together to say thank you and share our sincere heart felt gratitude to our dear friend the Republic of China – Taiwan’s Government and its generous people.
As we know the world is still at war with an invisible enemy that have claimed so many lives almost right across the entire globe. An enemy that has not only claimed lives but also brought colossal hardships to the many big and the small economies of the world.
This unprecedented pandemic have shaken the world to its core and have the world searching for answers and for a cure for the last 6 months. The Corona virus or the COVID 19 pandemic have awaken the world to re-examine many of the global arrangements that are put in place to facilitate the global economy for the progress and prosperity of mankind.
Fellow Malaitans today we are in a unique and a privilege situation to have been assisted by a country that have stood against the might of the Wuhan virus. A country that is so close in its proximity to the epicentre of the decease but have built resilience to withstand and conquer the decease and its devastating effects.
Fellow Malaitans, I need not to shout it out for you or the world to know nor do I have to whisper the name of this great country to you, since I know its name has always been there buried deep within our hearts. Taiwan as we know have shown the world again, the resilience and the cooperative spirit of mankind in times of great human tragedy. Taiwan have shown that in a free and fair society mankind can stand against any adversary be it visible or invisible.
In this light Malaita province, its people and the MARA Government dare not to be intimidated by any frameworks put up by anyone with the aim of disadvantaging the progressive spirit of its people. Taiwan have shown to the world a great example of a people that small it may in their geography and population. Their hearts, abilities and care have reached, touched and cure many lives across the world that have suffered as a result of the Wuhan virus.
We therefore stand here today to echo from the bottom of our hearts to the government and loving people of Taiwan our most sincere and heart felt gratitude for the support you have given us. Your support to my people continue to rekindle the long standing friendship between the people of Malaita Province and the people of Taiwan. Our peoples have come to share the same values and principles and it is my strongest believe that no amount of institutional deprivation will overcome these shared human commonalities.
Fellow Malaitans, there are those who may like to say that Malaita is but a province of the Solomon Islands. The truth in such thinking no doubt have its place in the governance of Solomon Islands. However, there is further truth that the Melanesian and Polynesian races that have settled the land and the seas now today called Malaita have been here since time immemorial. The shaping and reshaping of their survival abilities and human endurances has not just started with the creation of the nation state Solomon Islands. It must therefore be understood that the basic instincts to keep the races alive and survive has always there in our DNAs. What we are doing today to reach out for the protection of our survival is nothing new. It looks new only because of the newly introduced frameworks and institutional set ups. However, the limitations under these frameworks must not be used to limit our ability as a people to find appropriate support in times like this. Where we have in front of us a deadly decease capable of wiping us from the surface of the earth.
Fellow Malaitans, ladies and gentlemen, let us once more applaud the people and the government of Taiwan for their generous support. Also we must thank our God almighty for its saving grace and for its continuous love to us. Let us be with him in his wisdom as we celebrate this wonderful gift from our dear friends from the other side of the vast Pacific Ocean.
May God bless the hand that gives and those that have received what has been given.
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