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Pro-active, challenge for 2001 graduates

PALIKIR, Pohnpei (FSM Information Service): June 8, 2001 - President Leo A. Falcam delivered a message that reverberated a challenge to the graduating class of 2001 to take on a more "pro-active" stand in the future of the Federated States of Micronesia.

During the months of May and June, the President traveled to different high schools throughout the FSM to address the high school graduates. From Pohnpei to Yap, this year's graduates were given the hard facts of our nations development progress and a clear picture of our shortfalls and the areas in which FSM needs to improve as a developing nation.

The graduates were advised against the luxury of sitting back and enjoying what little is available now. President Falcam said "despite all that has been accomplished, the battle to place our nationhood on a secure and sustainable footing is only about half-won."

The Class of 2001 was reminded that the formation of the FSM in 1979, just a few years before their birth and like them, had to go through its share of uncertainties and trials-and errors. Throughout the process, not only was the FSM successful in developing a politically stable new nation, but "this also took place without civil violence, in full accordance with our laws and our chosen democratic principles."

The "even greater challenge" now for the graduates will be to establish the basis for the Nation's economic stability, during their lifetime.

The President stressed the challenging role they have of stewarding the Nation at a time "when expectations of people everywhere, flowing from the explosion of information and technology, are increasing at a pace never seen before.

"That alone makes yours a very special generation, positioned to enjoy an unprecedented quality of life, but only if you also meet the challenge to be pro-active and productive in the incredible world of the twenty-first century."

The heart of the Presidents message surrounds the Compact with the US and its effects on the FSM. President Falcam urged the graduates to 'take a careful look' at the Compact and 'study its provisions' because the Compact was designed to protect the most fundamental aspects of their future.

The provisions represented much more than a financial and program assistance package, it was a package that took into consideration the mutual respects of the same beliefs and goals:

• "a mutual commitment to Government based on the principles of democracy and respect for human rights.

• a determination that this part of the world must never again be subjected to the suffering and destruction resulting from the expansionist ambition of other foreign powers.

"Your future, your family's future, and your nation's future depends on each and every one of us accepting a lifelong mission to be faithful stewards of the advantages that we are given"

The President's parting message to the graduates echo his inaugural message that as a Nation, "we must work together."

President Falcam stressed that "this nation will not advance because of the actions of political leaders alone. The nation's real future is in the hands of individual citizens."