2010 FTA Fall Dinner at Hong Kong
including a donation to the
China Tibetan Children Health &
Education Fund
Thursday, 7 October 2010
The following 'Welcoming
Remarks' were delivered by Fred Tibbitts at the 2010 Fall Dinner at Hong Kong
Welcoming Remarks at Hong Kong
Fall 2010
Welcome to the
Tenth Annual FTA “A Fall Evening in Hong Kong
with Very Special Friends”. We
gather in New York City spring and fall, at Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Beijing,
Bangkok, Mumbai, Shanghai and at Hong
Kong to recognize hospitality excellence; in the names of those whom we honor,
provide scholarships at schools of higher hospitality education; and to make
charitable contributions.
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 and Award hospitality industry Excellence, present
the 2010 scholarships and donate to charity.
This is truly a very special evening for us all and I thank you for
joining us, because as I say at every FTA dinner, YOU are the dinner.
But the deeper
meaning 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 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.
And simply because it is the right thing to do: Not for personal recognition.
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 others and our willingness to serve them without regard to
our advantage.
Life is a series
of micro steps from the time we arrive to the time we depart and 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”:
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.
While I have nothing against luxury goods, when it is your time to pass from
this life, do you want to be remembered for your collection of Rolex watches or
your charity for those less fortunate?
I am confident if Mother Teresa or Gandhi was given a Rolex, they would
have honored the gift for 24 hours and then offered it to someone they thought
would cherish it. So, why should we
be different?
I ask everyone to
please remember those less fortunate, especially the survivors
of the earthquakes in Haiti, Chile and China and the floods in Pakistan, India,
Bangladesh and China. Their
suffering continues as does their need for your compassion.
The Buddhists
have a beautiful saying, “One never knows which comes first, the next morning or
the next life”. I pray that as a
result of our coming together this evening for higher purposes, namely
recognizing human excellence, providing much-needed scholarships for worthy
students of limited means and charity for those less fortunate, that we will all
be reminded that people are more important things and that we all wake-up in the
morning in this life, but rededicated to devoting our lives to serving others,
simply because it is the right thing to do; not for others to praise us or to
cater to our ego. For service with
an Open Heart and Right Intention is the foundation of our hospitality industry:
Let it be your mantra from this moment forward, until it is your time to wake-up
in the next life. Thank you very
much.
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