Ode to human spirit

For more than 490 years until 1911, it was the official venue for Chinese emperors to pray to the heavens for peace and prosperity.

Today, when the sacred flame of the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games is lit at the Temple of Heaven, let us make a prayer - for a world friendlier to the 600 million fellow citizens of the global village living with disabilities.

The Paralymic Games may lack the kind of profit-earning potentials the Olympics has, and thus be less coveted by commercial sponsors. But the spiritual enrichment it brings may far outweigh any monetary gains.