On 30 September, the eve of the National Day of China, the Shanghai Government bestowed a Magnolia Gold Award on Dr. Dicken Yung, President of Special Olympics East Asia. The prestigious award recognized Yung's continuing contributions to the welfare of society over the past 20 years, especially on behalf of Special Olympics. Yung was one of 10 recipients of the Award, which was presented by Han Zheng, Mayor of Shanghai, at a special ceremony held in the Shanghai City Hall.

In accepting the award, Yung said, “I am, indeed, extremely honored and humbled to accept the prestigious award of Magnolia Honors from the Municipal Government of Shanghai. Clearly, this award to me also represents and recognizes the hard work, commitment and invaluable contributions of many of my friends, including the founder of Special Olympics, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, and other great leaders such Sargent Shriver and Tim Shriver, colleagues, numerous volunteers, including my wife, and government officials in Shanghai, especially those of the Shanghai Civil Affairs Bureau. I am very thankful to each of them, as well as the people of Shanghai, for their steadfast support and encouragement associated with the welfare and educational projects that I am involved in, especially Special Olympics, the worldwide sports program serving more than 1.2 million children and adults with intellectual disabilities.

“More importantly, I give a special thank you to the athletes and their parents for their inspiration, involvement and dedication. Along with the people of Shanghai and throughout China, I am very pleased and excited that this wonderful city of Shanghai is hosting the 2007 Special Olympics World Summer Games. The city of Shanghai, in conjunction with these Games, will host approximately 10,000 athletes and officials from more than 150 countries and territories. As always, it is a great honor and privilege to work with the officials and people of Shanghai.”

Special Olympics Chairman and CEO Dr. Timothy Shriver congratulated Yung on receiving the award. “No one deserves this award more than Dicken. For over 20 years, he has been an enormous force for Special Olympics and for the rights and dignity of persons with intellectual disabilities in China and around the world. No single person can claim to have had a greater impact. He is changing life for over a billion people and, by extension, changing the whole world. How lucky we are to have him in our Movement!”

More than 190,000 athletes participate in the Special Olympics East Asia region, which includes The People's Republic of China, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong and Macau. Athlete participation has risen 128 percent since 2000, and by 2005, this region aims to increase the number of athletes participating to more than 545,000, making it home to one-quarter of the world's Special Olympics athletes.