With as many as 212 students to be felicitated today for excellence in various disciplines, it only establishes that as a community you guys are indeed brilliant. I can only say 'Bravo' to all you young achievers.

The future of any community or country can be determined by the quality of its youth.  Being witness to the qualities of the crème de la crème of our community youth,  it is gratifying to foresee that the future of our community is in safe hands.

What you have achieved is the result of your hard work, the qualities imbibed in you all by your parents and the efforts of your teachers who have successfully brought out the talent lying latent in all of you.

How does one describe the role of parents and teachers in our lives? 

I believe parents make the biggest sacrifice one can make, they put their present on hold so that they can fulfil the promise of their children’s future.

As for teachers I personally prefer to think of them as angels leading us into light, shaping our minds with positive attributes and values with which to lead our lives.

At this stage I must express my appreciation to the dynamic energy called ZOSTA that has over the last 36 years been the force in teaching, counselling, motivating and encouraging our youth to excel. Their efforts over the years have been absolutely spectacular for which I am sure all of you will join me in applauding them. 

The patrons who support ZOSTA are also to be complimented for the generosity with which they have been supporting these efforts year after year. Our community is blessed to have such stalwarts.

You young awardees have indeed done your families and community proud. You have established that within you reside the qualities of leadership - commitment, dedication and hard work, qualities that many aspire for but do not achieve.

The message that I wish to convey is that to succeed in life the two qualities necessary are a sound education & discipline. How does one describe these two qualities. I like to think of education & discipline as being the backbones of progress. the promises of peace & prosperity, the instruments of liberty and the foundations to build the lofty structure of nations on.

I have no doubt that both these qualities all of you have in ample measure, and which you will continue to cultivate even more in the years to come. 

My young friends, to succeed you must dream big. However, when you do so, bear in mind that some people will say you are crazy, when you succeed they will say you are lucky and when you prosper they will say you are greedy. I urge that you not listen to such people, but to simply go ahead and continue what you are doing. Also, convey to them the reality that each succeeding generation is smarter than the earlier one. If that were not so, we would have been living in the bullock cart age and not the space age. 

An important recommendation I have to make to you my young friends is to stay away from negative people and influences. If you want to soar like an eagle, you have to learn the ways of an eagle, not those of a fowl. If you associate with achievers you will become one. If you associate with thinkers, you will become one. If you associate with complainers, you will become one.

In concluding, I wish all you my young friends brilliant success in the years to come, compliment your parents for rearing youth who can be termed as the pride of our flock and to teachers in general and those associated with ZOSTA in particular sincere gratitude for all the hard work they have put in for years on end, with love and devotion, shaping the destinies of young minds that have moved on from being ordinary to extraordinary, and for providing me with this opportunity to address our splendid youth.

God bless you, your families, our community and country.