Thank you, Shanghai, for all the memories

ZINEDINE Zidane, a sports personality whom I admire very much, once said: “It doesn’t matter how many times you win an award, it is always very special.”

Zizou should know. Having picked up every possible title and award in a glittering career on and off the football pitch, his hunger for new successes never really ceased.

My immediate feeling on receiving the Magnolia Gold Award was exactly the same. It’s very special. But while the French superstar was recognized for his individual accomplishments, my Magnolia felt more like a lifetime achievement award.

After all, a journey that started in the summer of 1999 does feel like a lifetime now. I can look back on the celebrations marking the launch of Shanghai Daily and the frenzied reaction on the streets following Beijing’s successful 2008 Olympic bid.

I could feel the pride when China gained entry to the World Trade Organization and the anxieties when we lived through the SARS epidemic. Yang Liwei’s historic voyage into space uplifted us all, while the tragedies of the Sichuan earthquake gave us new insight into what it means to be humanitarian.

Then there was the successful staging of the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai and the global awe as China supplanted Japan as the world’s second-biggest economy.

To have been a witness, and at times a participant, in the past 20 years of history gives me a feeling of satisfaction and belonging. The Magnolia Award is the recognition of that.

The city’s highest honor means the world to me, my wife and children, who for many years made this city their home. And of course, the support and faith of my Shanghai Daily colleagues over the years made it all possible. This award belongs as much to them as to me.

I am humbled that the Magnolia Award puts me in the distinguished ranks of people who have made important and substantial contributions to the city. It fills me with immense pride and satisfaction.

So to everyone and anyone who has helped me in big or small ways during my years in Shanghai, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

(Bivash Mukherjee)