OPINION> Commentary
Ode to human spirit
(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-08-28 07:32

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.

We appreciate the organizers' commitment that the upcoming Paralympics will enjoy equal importance, and will be equally splendid. We have heard the organizing authorities vow to "go to any lengths" to make it a complete success. And 40,000 volunteers are ready to serve.

It is worth all that. We need such a success. For the welfare of people with disabilities. For humanity as a whole.

The Paralympics is about integration. Organizers of the Beijing Paralymics said by choosing the Temple of Heaven as today's torch-lighting ceremony, they want to convey that very message. The temple connotes integration of man and nature. The Paralymics can take one step further, helping integrate a vulnerable group better with their more fortunate peers.

More than 4,000 athletes from 150 countries and regions will demonstrate that they can do it, as cool as those who did it days back at the Olympics. Physical limitations, as we will witness in the coming days, are no terminator of sportsmanship.

The Paralympics is about participation. Like at the Olympics, medals will also be awarded here. But compared with the luster of metals, more brilliant will be the athletes' will power. Such power will not only inspire and empower those with similar troubles in everyday life. It will be equally, or even more, educational for many of us "able-bodied". Such qualities are particularly venerable in a time when sense of wellbeing unknowingly deprives us of the precious motivations to move ahead. For the Paralympians, participation itself is success.

The Paralympics is about awareness. It will prompt all of us to ask ourselves - what have we done for our less fortunate brothers and sisters? What else can we do in their honor?

In this country alone, there are more than 83 million people living with disabilities. In fairness to the government, it has done a decent job regarding welfare of the special group. From legislation, to job creation, and accessible facilities, we have seen changes all the time.

The government has a lot more to do. No doubt about that. But it is simply beyond its reach to take care of everything. So we need broader involvement.

That is why in our eyes, the success of the Paralymics rests more on whether it can truly upgrade public awareness.

Our prayers are for that.

(China Daily 08/28/2008 page8)