Ram Boolchand: “Focus on the quality of life and how it can be improved” “In seeking to improve the quality of our lives, what could be more important than love to achieve the ultimate goal, which is happiness? Be challenged, be inspired, be well. We have only just begun. We feel blessed. Indeed, we are grateful and indebted to all the talented and committed colleagues, suppliers, friends, well-wishers, local institutions, and others (too many to mention) who have made our 75-year journey possible. Words alone cannot fully express our gratitude, but this thank you is straight from the heart, and we sincerely hope that you all know it and feel it. In the closing ceremony of our 75th year and in our continued endeavor to give back to our community something of value, we have sought to raise awareness about the quality of life and how it can be improved. We had the privilege and honor of welcoming eminent local and international speakers to give us their views on the theme of ‘Improving quality of life through technology’ in a seminar and forum. In addition, photo and essay competitions provided platforms for participants to express their opinions on this theme with particular attention to the future of healthcare, education, entertainment, telecommunications and the environment. This website provides some insight into what has been said and learned. Included also are the winning entries from both competitions. We hope, in some small way, to have succeeded in stimulating the members of our community, young and old, to think about their current quality of life and to take the first steps in their Journey to improving it. In our wrap-up discussions after the events aforementioned, we all came to an important conclusion: this should only be the start. What has been developed should be seen as a continuous platform for unearthing new possibilities for improving our quality of life, and we invite you, dear reader, to join in. Incidentally, we opened our 75th anniversary celebrations with an art exhibition entitled ‘A Journey to India’. By coincidence, we closed our celebrations with another ‘Journey to India’. Whilst the opening showcased artwork from India, the closing presented Indian music and dance. We strongly feel that art, music, dance, poetry and literature are integral to quality of life, and enhance the further development of our human spirit. Finally, speaking of symbols, we ended the evening celebration of the close of our 75th anniversary with two songs. The first of these was ‘It’s a wonderful world’ by Louis Armstrong, which we took the liberty of singing together again as ‘It’s a wonderful Curaçao’. The second song was ‘All you need is love’, by the Beatles. The messages implied in these two songs are quite obvious. Firstly, Curaçao is wonderful: my grandfather was right when he chose to open his business here 75 years ago. He felt that this island would nourish and nurture the generations to come, and, indeed, three generations later, here we are, with branches not only in Curaçao, but also beyond its shores: in Aruba, St. Kitts, St. Maarten and St. Thomas. Secondly, in seeking to improve the quality of our lives, what could be more important than love to achieve the ultimate goal, which is happiness? Be challenged, be inspired, be well. We have only just begun.