Government of the Federated States of Micronesia

President Mori's Christmas Message

Palikir, December 16, 2008


Vice President Alik and our families join me in wishing the people of the Federated States of Micronesia, and its friends, guests and visitors, tiding of happiness throughout this Christmas Season and best wishes for a prosperous New Year.

As we join our families and friends in celebration of the holidays, let us be thankful for the continued good health and well-being of our nation.

Our strong traditional values and beliefs are the reservoir of our strength as a people and the bond that unites us as a nation. Therefore, as we embark into the New Year, I ask that we reaffirm our pledge to remain faithful to our values and moral obligations as enshrined in our constitution. In the New Year, we must continue to strive to be self-reliant. Our focus must be on strengthening our energy and food security. This can only come about with a return to some of our old ways, like planting our own food, and through adopting new ways such as a focus on conservation.

And let us not forget our recently celebrated National Prayer Day, where we established to work on strengthening our relationships with God, the relationships among our leaders, and the relationships of leaders with their constituents. The holidays are a perfect time to do this.

On that note, I extend personal gratitude to all of our leaders throughout the FSM for their continuing effort in the development of our nation: to Speaker Figir and members of our Congress; Chief Justice Amaraich and the Judiciary; and the Governors, Speakers and Chief Justices of our four State Governments. We should reaffirm our commitment to work together in the New Year and recommit ourselves to helping the grassroots of our nation.

In addition, we continue to look to and thank our traditional leaders for the wisdom and guidance they provide in the preservation and protection of our heritage, cultures and traditions.

More importantly, we continue to seek the grace of Almighty God for guidance, and we look to our religious leaders in the communities for their continued spiritual encouragement.

And finally, my fellow citizens, I want to express my personal gratitude to each and every one of you for your individual efforts in the progress of our nation. You are our nation's most important resource and we need you to be strong and committed to ensure the continued advancement of our people and our nation.

From all of us here in Palikir, we wish you a very merry Christmas and may the New Year bring each and every one of you peace, prosperity and happiness.

Thank you.