Mr. Shaw, Mr. Chief Secretary, The honorable 2005 Shaw Prize Laureates, Ladies and Gentlemen:

On behalf of the Shaw Prize Council, I welcome all of you to this second annual ceremony. The Shaw Prize was established to encourage and to foster highest intellectual achievements essential for the welfare and progress of mankind. Thanks to the insightful deliberations and the diligent work of the 3 selection committees, the 2004 and 2005 Shaw Prize Laureates have won universal acclaim. The Shaw Prize has thus been referred to as the Nobel Prize of the East. We hope, in some future years, the Nobel Prize will be referred to as the Shaw Prize of the West.