On the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti, celebrating the Mahatma's 152nd birthday, GSF Chairman Mr Atul Temurnikar gave a heartfelt speech about our great leader, highlighting his values and teaching that remain evergreen and relevant in each and every one of our daily lives.

Listen to the full speech here:

"The High Commissioner of India His Excellency Mr P Kumaran, President of United Nations Association of Singapore Mr Alexander Charles Louis, Honourable  President of GOPIO Singapore Mr Harikrishnan Muthusamy, other respected dignitaries parents, teachers, and my dear friends.

A very good morning to everyone!    

Today is momentous as we all gather here to commemorate someone who holds a very high importance in the eyes of the world. 

It is on this day - precisely 152 years ago - when a child named Mohandas came into this world who was eventually called Mahatma or Greatest Person by the rest of the world. 

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi became a legend for his contribution to India’s Freedom Movement. 

But even after 75 years of freedom, the relevance and importance of Mahatma Gandhi has not diminished a bit in his motherland. 

More than that, this relevance to the world has grown by leaps and bounds, mostly because of the invaluable idea of peace and non-violence that he embraced as a life-long value. 

The message of the Mahatma lies in the moral strength of this idea which has outweighed stronger enemies and powerful resistance. 

We remember Gandhi as the man who wore just a loin cloth and walked the length and breadth of the country with a wooden staff. 

That wooden staff became a symbol of his stoic and his proverbial weapon against violent oppression in the era of the British. 

The World, too, remembers the Mahatma as a simple, soft-spoken man with a will power made of iron and the mental strength of a yogi.

In fact, such was the pull of Gandhi, that when a portion of his ashes were immersed off the tip of Singapore, nearly 10,000 people - who had never met him before in their life - joined the immersion procession and drank the waters where the immersion took place as a mark of homage and grief. 

His most undefiable message of non-violence and peace resistance remains a potent weapon for all. 

It inspired many great leaders after him like Martin Luther King Jr who derived most of his non-violent activism from the writings & thoughts of Gandhiji.

In today’s world, one of the most important values we can teach our future generation is harmonious coexistence.

Which is why it is no surprise that since 2007, this day has been observed worldwide as the United Nations Day of Non-Violence. 

His contribution to the world is acknowledged even today. 

Singapore Prime Minister Mr Lee Hsien Loong has remarked in his earlier speech that Gandhiji’s belief in the intrinsic value of every human being is what has inspired the principle on which Singapore  was built. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also said that Gandhiji’s message of non-violence should be taken to heart to resolve all conflicts calmly without inflaming passions or hardening attitudes. 

We too firmly believe in this ideology. Global Schools Foundation has always been a staunch follower of peace and universal values. 

Our co-founder the Late Dr Justice Dharmadhikari was a stalwart Gandhian and always emphasised on imparting virtues of universal brotherhood as preached, by Gandhiji, among students.

In fact, our Mahatma Gandhi Center for Universal Values is a fountainhead of our educational pedagogy which puts the Peace Curriculum at the center of its learning framework. 

It teaches students about universal brotherhood, acceptance and celebration of differences, shunning violence and spreading the message of kindness and humility. 

We empower every student to stand up for an equal society where there is no subservience and everyone has a voice. 

The centre is also a symbol of harmony, and the statue of Gandhi is a great inspiration for our young children to follow Gandhian principles of peace and harmony. 

It is the only museum dedicated to the Mahatma, where replicas of Gandhiji’s belongings are kept to showcase to our students how simplicity was practised by the man who became a big world phenomena by his thoughts alone. 

With the pandemic still looming over us all, I believe that the one thing keeping the people of the world connected is the feeling of oneness and universal brotherhood which Gandhi Ji always talked about.

Take for instance, the amount of support and medical devices that were shipped out from all over the world to countries where people were facing enormous challenges such as having access to oxygen concentrators or oxygen tanks. All such support flew in from all parts of the world by many individuals from many organizations and we are proud that Global Schools Foundation was able to play a small role during this pandemic. 

Coexistence with each other and cherishing diversity is what we stand for. 

Being a 21st century school with the vision of grooming students to be global citizens, the Global Schools Foundation has completely embraced  ideologies of tolerance and coexistence in all our schools, which are crucial in shaping them into leaders who are conscientious and ethical human beings.

Through community service activities and programs like Racial Harmony Day, and collaborations with organisations like Friends of Singa, our students have put into practice what they have learnt in their classrooms. 

We have contributed in many ways towards universal peace and brotherhood to emphasise the fact that Gandhiji’s message is evergreen, pandemic or no pandemic, and unbound by geographical boundaries.

We are proud of our Gandhi centre and diligently follow values preached by Gandhiji in everything we do. 

On the occasion of his 152nd birthday, we are thankful for the values and teachings he has imparted to the world. 

After all these years, his words remain a perennial message, applicable to every human being on this planet, regardless of race and religion.

Gandhiji’s principles have always been our guiding light throughout our journey. 

We hope to continue spreading his values and teaching to our children, who will one day become global leaders, global thinkers, emulating what the Gandhian ethos was.

Thank you very much!"