2008 FTA Singapore Spring Dinner
Thursday, March 27, 2008
The following 'Welcoming
Remarks' were delivered by Fred Tibbitts at the 2008 Kuala Lumpur Spring Dinner.
Welcoming Remarks
Welcome to the Sixth Annual FTA “A Spring Evening in
Singapore with Very Special Friends”. We gather across Asia Pacific and in New
York City to recognize hospitality excellence and in the names of those, whom we
honor, provide scholarships at schools of higher education.
An industry is only as strong as the wisdom, vision,
compassion and actions of its leaders; leaders who define excellence for the
benefit of all those who look to them to know the way to realize their dreams
and ambitions and not be left behind. In the end we are judged not by whom we
include, but by whom we exclude. Great leaders inspire and teach all those who
seek to be included, because serving the least of us is truly the highest
calling and the only measure of service from the heart.
This evening we come together to recognize Literary
Excellence and leadership. This is truly a very special evening for us all and
I thank you all for joining us, because as I say at every FTA dinner, YOU are
the dinner. But the deeper purpose of why we come together is really at the
very heart of why the hospitality industry is so special to those of us, who
have come to consider it our calling.
Hospitality is about service and in particular service
excellence: Service to others. For service is truly the highest calling. It is
not what we do for ourselves, but what we do for others that is the measure of
our worth to humanity.
The truth is that we are free to dwell at any given moment
in as beautiful a place as our hearts are open to loving all others without
qualification and our willingness to serve all others without question, simply
because it is the right thing to do.
Life is a series of micro steps from the time we arrive to
the time we depart. The quality of our life is but a reflection of the quality
of our contribution to the peace and happiness of others.
It is not about pleasing ourselves or collecting “things”
as George Carlin would remind us: It is about serving others and after one’s
basic, personal needs are met, allowing what remains of what comes our way to
pass through our fingers for the benefit of those less fortunate.
Thank you very much. |