The speech was delivered by Batch 83 Foundation President, Richard Sy-Facunda, during the dedication rites for the the HS Chinese Multimedia Center last Tuesday, Jan. 27.

Fr. Zuloaga, Fr Johnny Go, Dr. Kelly Salvador, distinguished members of the Xavier Community, dear classmates & friends,

A Chinese proverb goes like this “Tell me and I’ll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I’ll understand.”

Twenty-five years or so ago, the path of Chinese instruction was not as easy as it is today. Back then, the only way for us to “learn” Chinese was to memorize, memorize & memorize. I still remember Lay lao shi teaching us how to use the every bulky Chinese dictionary. Ms. Lydia Uy and her colorful renditions of Chinese history every 4th level. Ms. Teresita Tan and that ever popular Orion plastic ruler. A pretty accurate gauge of your Chinese education.

Today, thanks to technology and the people who have harnessed it, we have digital Chinese dictionaries, we have DVDs where Chinese history comes to life, and of course we have the all-powerful internet.

Using the medium of computers, it is our hope, that Xavier students may be more involved in learning Chinese : both it’s language and it’s heritage.

Xavier School Batch 83, through its Foundation, continues its quest for quality education, by helping Xaverians through this Chinese Multimedia Center and, in turn, produce tomorrow’s leaders.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the members of Batch 83 whose enthusiasm for the project is without boundaries; Mr. Michael G. Tan, Mr. Michael Ng, Mr. Edgar De Leon, Mr. Martin Tanco & our very own Sec. Arthur C. Yap who could not be with us today. A big thank you goes to Mr. Jing Velasco and the homecoming committee of Xavier School 2008 as well.

Luceat Lux !