Equality, justice and democracy are the core beliefs of the Commonwealth. They are reflected in the decisions by Commonwealth Heads of Government and their ministers who meet regularly, and in the activities of the various Commonwealth organisations and agencies.

Every year, on the second Monday in March, the Commonwealth - its beliefs, principles and diversity of peoples and cultures - is celebrated on Commonwealth Day. Governments, Commonwealth organisations and schools participate in events to pay tribute to this special partnership of nations and peoples and the ideals they hold in common.

The modern Commonwealth evolved out of Britain's imperial past. Today, it helps to advance democracy, human rights, and sustainable economic and social development in an integrated way. With English as a common working language and similar systems of law, public administration and education, the Commonwealth has become a vibrant and growing association of states, sensitive to the modern world yet mindful of its historical links.

Founded in 1868, the Royal Commonwealth Society (RCS) is an international non-governmental organisation (NGO) working to promote an understanding of the nature and workings of the Commonwealth, and of the factors which shape the lives of its peoples and the policies of its governments. The RCS is supported by a worldwide membership of over 10,000 with self-governing branches, honorary representatives and affiliated organisations in 39 countries and territories. The international headquarters are in London.

The Royal Commonwealth Society is an educational charity and international organisation working to promote knowledge and appreciation of the modern Commonwealth, and support for its fundamental values and purposes, through its educational and outreach programme and through its worldwide network of self-governing RCS branches and Commonwealth societies, honorary representatives, affiliated organisations and individual members in around one hundred countries.

Today, we live in a politically and ethically complex world that is both integrated yet interdependent, where decisions taken in one place, and do, affect developments in another. Within this context, the Royal Commonwealth Society is as important today as ever. It is an organisation that interfaces two enormous but widely different communities. We are an international family of 53 member countries spread across five continents. Plus, we are now part of China with the world’s largest population of about 1.3 billion. The Royal Commonwealth Society here in Hong Kong is an important bridge between these two great communities and will do its best to enhance their interdependence.

In 1949, the Indian Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, was moved to comment that the Commonwealth could bring “a touch of healing?to world problems. We have a very important task - a task that is ever more pertinent when considering events in the Middle East and the tensions that have developed amongst the diverse communities there in the Commonwealth itself.

While so many of our members have in the past been from Britain, the country with the closest and longest links with Hong Kong, our duties are now shifting to inviting members to join from our member countries.

There are six affirmations which mark us as members of the RCS, which underline the intrinsic values the entire Commonwealth shares.

• Human Worth - We affirm that every person - of whatever colour, class, creed or age - possesses unique worth and dignity.
• Stewardship of the Earth - We affirm our respect for nature and that we will be stewards of the earth by caring for every part of it and for it as a whole.
• Equality, Justice and Peace - We affirm our belief in justice for everyone and peace between peoples and nations.
• The Primacy of Love - We affirm love as the foundation of all human relationship.
• Unity in Diversity - Service and Sacrifice - We affirm that we each belong to our own nation and to the whole human family: to the service of both we pledge ourselves.

What better description can be given to our task here in Hong Kong, linking two giant communities, with their own challenges? Does a young boy from Accra know about Shanghai? Or a young girl from Xian about Vancouver? There are challenges in these questions that we in the RCS must rationalise and bring into some form by which so we can continue to be that bridge, that link between peoples.There are many good examples in our city that clearly illustrate how we all set about tasks to make good citizens. The RCS can reach out to everyone, showing that the Commonwealth can be a partner, and through the RCS, people can make friends in 53 countries round the world. And perhaps in each of our individual ways collectively we can help make the world a better place through understanding.