PARALYMPICS /
News
Singaporean, Dutch media laud Beijing Paralympics
Xinhua
Updated: 2008-09-10 14:52
BEIJING -- The art performance during the opening ceremony of the Beijing Paralympics was amazing and the special care that the hosting country provided to the disabled athletes was more impressive, Singapore's Lianhe Zaobao said in an editorial Wednesday.
Following the success of the summer Olympics, China once again promoted the hosting standard of the Paralympics to a new high, said the editorial.
Compared with the Olympics, authorities of the host country paid the same amount of attention to the Paralympics, and in some aspects, the preparations and arrangements were even more careful, considerate and human.
The paper believes that China was using the Paralympics as a showcase window to convey the Chinese government's and society's respect and attention for the disabled people.
It cannot be underestimated that these qualities have influences on the reality of Chinese society in view of China's large disabled population, the editorial added.
The Netherlands national news agency, or ANP, said the opening ceremony of the Paralympics delivered a message that every single life is meaningful and valuable.
"On the opening show I couldn't keep quivering for several times not only because I was nervous to be the flag holder of the Dutch delegation but also because of the grand scene," the news agency Monday quoted Dutch wheelchair tennis player Esther Vergeer as saying.
Metro, a Dutch paper, said Monday that many details like restaurant menus for blind people and lifts for people in wheelchairs in the subway all warm the hearts of the disabled athletes.