ITTF President Interviewed by GDUFS Volunteer Representative

Feb. 27 - International Table-Tennis Foundation President Adham Sharara accepted an interview today with a GDUFS volunteer representative, sharing his views on the general performance of the volunteers who worked during the 49th World Team Table-tennis Championships from February 23 to March 3.

Q1: What do you think of the volunteers engaged in the 49th World Team Table-tennis Championships? Could you give some comments on them?

A1: No problem. First of all, I am happy to see so many young people here, helping us at the events. I found that the volunteers are very very nice and very very friendly. They are always smiling and ready to help us all the time. They give us the direction and show us the way. All that they do is very helpful to the guests. Also they speak English very well. For example, Mike (Mr. Sharara's personal interpreter) is working with me these days and his English has reached a very high level.

A2: As you know, the volunteers here can speak one or two languages. Do you think their language level meets your expectation?

Q2: Of course. I think China is now changing completely. I remember when I visited China in the year 1992, nobody could speak any language except Mandarin or their local Chinese dialect. But today I can see many people in China now can speak English. And most of you can speak a second or third language at a very high level. I am very impressed with the new generation of China. They are becoming very international.

A3: Compared with Chinese volunteers and volunteers from other countries, do you find out any difference between them?

Q3: (laughing) Yes, that's an interesting question. All the volunteers are willing to give their time and interest to the events. Actually the general level of the volunteers from each country is almost the same. But one different thing that I found here is that they are much more in number and more helpful than volunteers from other countries. They are always trying to help us settle problems, patiently answering all kinds of questions.

A4: Finally, would you like to say something to all the volunteers who participated in these great events?

Q4: Sure. I'd like to say all of you should continue to do the volunteer work because that's very important to your personal development. And you have a good chance to meet various people from all over the world. What you do can affect the guests in a positive way.

At the end of the interview, Mr. Sharara was presented with gifts from officials of the organizing committee, after which he wrote down the following words for all the volunteers involved in the championships: "On behalf the ITTF, I thank all the volunteers for their time, their great efforts and their great smiles!"

Photo provided by Linda Yu