This document provides a collection of sample speeches that can be used as a guide for public officials who have served their country and people at their retirement ceremony. Each speech will help the departing official reflect on their career and accomplishments, thank their colleagues, and share their plans and hopes for the future.
Official retirement reflections
I am deeply honored that you have organized such a grand farewell ceremony for me here today. As I stand here, memories from the first day of my public service life to this moment are flashing through my mind. First of all, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all of you as I end my public service in ○○ City today.
I remember when I first joined the company. As a rookie who knew nothing, public service was like an unknown world to me. The seniors around me gave me warm advice and guidance, and thanks to them, I gradually got used to my job. Especially when I made my first big mistake, the generosity and encouragement I received from my seniors was a great support. It is no exaggeration to say that that experience laid the foundation for my growth.
I remember the times when I was disappointed in myself for not doing as well as I thought I could, and the times when I beat myself up for pushing myself beyond my limits. All of these experiences have become more and more familiar as time goes on, and I think it’s because of all of you that I’ve been able to stay in my position for so long. At times, I’ve been frustrated under the weight of the workload, but the warm encouragement and support from my colleagues has been a great source of strength. I will always remember your cheerfulness and camaraderie.
I used to go to work thinking that there would be no other place like it, because you were always cheerful and positive, and generous even when things got tough. My 30 years of public service have been a part of my life and an important foundation of my life. Through our work, I have gained confidence in the increasingly clean and transparent administration, and I admire the self-sacrifice and service of those who have served. Working together has also taught me the importance of communication and cooperation within an organization. As public servants, listening to each other and working together to find solutions has been challenging at times, but it has also been rewarding.
I learned humility from those who were less educated and less financially capable, but had a heart that truly loved their country, and from those who were more educated and financially capable, but were unable to give back and only cared about their own personal interests, I realized that a materially rich life is useless if you don’t have inner humility. I became convinced that what is more important than material goods or honor is right spirit and humanity, and I decided that I should live with the right beliefs, and I have always tried to set an example for my juniors based on these beliefs, and I believe that my juniors will lead this organization well in the future.
I hadn’t realized it before, but the relationships we make in life are very important, and I’ve come to realize that it’s very difficult to find good relationships in the same place for a long time. The relationships I’ve made in my public service have become invaluable to me, and the times I’ve spent with you are precious memories that I will never forget in my life.
As I leave this position today, I will hold the grace and love you have shown me close to my heart. I hope that no matter where and when we meet, we can always smile and talk about the past. I would like to thank you all again for everything you have done for me, and I sincerely wish you all a bright future ahead. I wish you nothing but the best as you continue to serve your constituents.
Farewell remarks on retirement from public service
It is with deep emotion that I say goodbye to the years of my youth. As my time in public service passes, many moments come to mind, and I would like to express my sincere gratitude to everyone I have worked with. They say that time is like a stream or that it is as fast as an arrow. When I was younger, these words didn’t mean much to me, but now I realize how true they are. It has been ○○ years and a little more since I joined the public service, and I have gained a lot of experience and learning. I’ve had the opportunity to change jobs, and I’ve had my fair share of pauses, and now I’m holding an honorary retirement ceremony for my juniors and myself.
The custom of first-in, first-out and hierarchy in the public service has long since been broken, and fresh juniors are being promoted before their seniors. All of my colleagues who have been left behind by their peers or juniors can relate to this feeling. Competition is inevitable in public life, but we have tried not to lose our camaraderie in the midst of it. But now, there are no seniors who were appointed before me, and getting older is like the pressure of a front-runner in a marathon. It hasn’t been easy to overcome this pressure, but I have stuck to my path.
It is with great emotion that I say goodbye to the years of my youth. I still feel like I have a lot more to do for our city, and I still have a lot of know-how that I have yet to pass on to my juniors. I hope that the knowledge and experience I have gained in public service will not be lost in a flash. I’m actually a little sad that time won’t allow me to do more, but I feel honored that I’ve been able to devote my life to this job, and this is the end of the road.
“What do I want to do in retirement?” My wife and I have been thinking a lot about it. My long journey in public service is over, and it’s time for a new beginning. Just as everything is falling into place, I will now spend my life in the soil, farming. When we open the orchard, come and visit. If any of our colleagues or juniors want to come, we will treat them with open arms, so please feel free to come and visit. Life in the orchard will be simple and peaceful, and we hope to find a new life away from the hectic life we’ve been living.
There are many things I would like to say to the remaining juniors, but I believe that you will judge everything positively, envision the future of the region, and contribute to the development of our ○○ city and Korea. I hope you will always believe in yourself, trust your colleagues, and live a life of strength for each other. To my colleagues and juniors, thank you for your trust and affection, and I wish you unlimited development and happiness in the future. Thank you.
Police retirement testimonials
We each have a goal in life, no matter how insignificant it may seem to others, it is very important for us to have a goal in life. I believe that people who have a goal can accomplish more than those who do not.
So here we are in May 2023, how are you doing with your goals? Athletes who run with goals perform better than those who run without goals. Athletes with goals are able to pace themselves and breathe better as they run. Goals aren’t just dreams or hopes; they’re compasses that guide our actions and decisions. They give us a direction for our lives, and they keep us moving and growing.
We got off to a great start last month, and to finish without quitting, we encourage you to set goals in your life, big or small. May 2023 be the year you achieve everything you want. No matter what our goals are, when we put in the time and effort necessary to achieve them, we become better versions of ourselves, and the challenges and accomplishments we experience along the way make us stronger.
When I was 22 years old, I had one goal. It was to be a good cop, and I’ve come a long way toward that goal. And to stand here today and say I’m retiring from the police force is truly overwhelming. In the 39 years that have passed, I have always had seniors, colleagues, and juniors by my side, so I have had the pleasure of laughing and living with them, and that has brought me to this day. It has made me happy, and it has made me realize how important it is to set goals.
Dear juniors, I ask you to always greet me when you see me. As a departing senior, it has been a pleasure to share my life with you. I’m leaving with half a success, although I didn’t achieve everything, but even this half success didn’t come so easily. There was a lot of trial and error, a lot of learning, and I realized a lot of things along the way.
I realized late in life that I had been living my life like a frog in a well. I want you to face the big world and not just look at the small world like a frog in a well. Also, you don’t know if there is a winter or what winter is like because you only live for one day. Human beings are bound by their small knowledge and don’t know how to escape from it, and once they escape, they don’t realize that there is a bigger world. I have lived my life with a lot of regrets for living in this position. It is said that life begins at 60, so my life is just beginning. You don’t want to realize this at 60, you want to realize it beforehand and have a broader perspective so you don’t become a frog in a well.
I said I’m leaving with half the success of my police career, and I hope you juniors can fill in the other half. I believe in you, and I will make a new start with a happy heart. Now, I will put down the heavy burden on my shoulders and enjoy the rest of my life with a relaxed heart. Finally, I would like to express my gratitude and appreciation to my dear juniors who have been with me until now.
I hope that we will continue to be good companions to each other and move forward with our respective goals. Our goals may be different, but in this process of working together toward them and encouraging each other, we will be able to achieve greater things. I wish you all greater growth and happiness through this journey.
Police retirement speech
It seems like spring is here and then it’s back to winter again. The last few days have felt like early April, but then the spring rains come, and it’s windy and cold. I wonder when spring will ever fully arrive for us, and I worry that summer will sneak up on us before we know it, and we’ll have no time to fully enjoy it before it’s too late.
Spring is short, but it gives us so much in that short time. The blooming flowers and sprouting buds remind us of new beginnings and the beauty of life. Nevertheless, we are still left with a sense of regret that it will be over before we know it. This is how we feel about “short things.” But our lives are also very short in the grand scheme of history, and I think that’s why we always have a sense of regret about the time we’ve had. As a retired teacher, I’ve been reminded of the shortness and impermanence of life lately. Spring is here, and our lives are just a little bit shorter than that, and I hope you enjoy it more so that you don’t look back and regret it. May your short lives be longer and more fulfilling.
In the 29 years that have passed, I would like to thank my colleagues who have always stood beside me, seniors, colleagues, and juniors, because I have had the pleasure of laughing with them and living with them. As time goes by, the memories and memories here will become more precious, and the time we spent together will be the most valuable treasure in my life.
I realized late in life that I had lived my life like a frog in a well, and I had many regrets. Just as a frog in a well cannot tell the sky beyond what it sees, and a day-living creature that lives only one day cannot know whether there is winter or what winter is like, humans are bound by their small knowledge and cannot escape from it, and once they escape, they do not realize that there is a bigger world, and I have lived my life with a lot of regrets for living in this position. I thought that I should have realized and acted on it before others, and the answer to this is in the hearts of the younger generation, so I hope you will think about it again.
It is said that life begins at 60, so my life is just beginning. Now, I will put down the heavy burden on my shoulders and enjoy the rest of my life with a relaxed heart. Even if I am gone, please be the people’s staff that protects the security of the citizens forever. Thank you.
Message from the Ministry of Strategy and Finance
It seems like just yesterday that I took up this position, and now it’s time for me to leave. I have been a civil servant since 1999, and it is with great emotion that I am about to end 24 years of public service. My desk is still stacked with the materials we reviewed in the National Assembly to pass this year’s budget by the end of last year, and the memories of those sleepless nights in Parliament are still fresh in my mind. I recall the tense moments, the intense debates and discussions, and the colleagues I worked with, and I am filled with both pride and regret.
Looking back, I realize that in my 24 years of public service, the last few years have been the busiest and most challenging, but at the same time, the most rewarding for me. In the past one year and four months of my tenure, I have been working tirelessly to fulfill my duties as a public servant of the Ministry of Strategy and Finance. In the process, the dedication and enthusiasm shown by all the employees of our department has impressed me greatly, and we have been able to accomplish a great deal. I sincerely hope that the achievements we have made will be of tangible benefit to the people and serve as a small light to brighten Korea’s future.
The aftermath of the global financial crisis has not been long in coming. Amidst these external challenges, as a public servant in charge of finance, I have been doing my best with a boundless sense of duty, taking on the enormous task of maintaining fiscal soundness and stabilizing the livelihoods of the people. I cannot forget the tension and sense of responsibility we all felt during this process. Every moment was a challenge, and sometimes we had to fight uncertainty in a situation where we could not see an inch ahead, but the moments we overcame together have made me stronger.
When the new government took office in 20○○, we established a new fiscal strategy. In order to overcome the global financial crisis, which we called the “unprecedented economic crisis,” we responded boldly and proactively, including the largest supplementary economic budget in history in 20○○. In order to secure fiscal space to respond to the global financial crisis, we established a fiscal strategy to achieve a balanced budget early, and together with our staff, we implemented a number of initiatives, including improving the state-owned property management system, reorganizing fiscal statistics, promoting the modernization of public institutions, early fiscal execution, and introducing a pension lottery. All of this was made possible by the wise guidance of the then Minister and the dedicated support of our staff, for which I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude.
In addition, we tried various reforms and innovations to enhance the transparency and efficiency of fiscal policy. Sometimes, there were internal conflicts over the direction of the policy, but it was also a great strength of our department that we were able to come up with the best way forward through such discussions. These experiences have been a great learning experience for me, and I believe they will serve as a good example for my younger colleagues as they embark on their path to public service.
However, the global financial crisis, which originated in Europe, is still ongoing. Internally, uncertainty is increasing due to various changes in the political calendar and relations with neighboring countries. I am not without regret that I am leaving behind a heavy burden at such a difficult time, but I am confident that the great juniors who will take my place will be able to navigate the challenges together with you.
The recent global financial crisis has made fiscal prudence more important than ever. Fortunately, Korea’s current fiscal position is generally in good shape compared to other OECD advanced economies. I believe this is the result of the passion of our seniors and the efforts of our employees, who have faithfully upheld fiscal discipline with a sense of duty as frugal stewards. I believe that a sound fiscal position is the last bastion for stable national management.
Each of you will have to take on the mission of being the gatekeeper between Korea and the rest of the world, and respond to calls for reckless fiscal expansion based on principles and standards, just as our seniors did in the past. At the same time, we will have to pursue active fiscal policies for mid- and long-term national development, including improving the quality of life of the people and expanding future growth engines. Fortunately, with Minister ○○○ and my trusted juniors, my departure is light.
When I took office, I said that we would make the Ministry of Strategy and Finance a great place to work and live through mutual cooperation among organizational members, promoting equitable work that is trusted by the public, and leading by example, starting with myself. I have endeavored to put this into practice, starting with myself, and I would like to thank all employees for their sincere support. I look forward to working with all employees to develop a Ministry of Strategy and Finance that is more trusted by the public and happier for its employees. Only those who work hard and prepare, and those who overcome difficult and challenging adversities, can become true excellence. I hope you will accumulate the beautiful process and results of your efforts as assets for the future.
Dear Ministry of Strategy and Finance family! Those who meet must part, and those who leave must return. Parting is not the end, but the beginning of a new encounter. The bonds of our precious relationship will always be by our side, no matter where we are. Even if we are physically separated, I will support you as a member of the MOF family. I wish you always be healthy and happy. Thank you.
Final Remarks at the Public Service Retirement Ceremony
Hello, everyone! The sunflowers that whispered their love to the hot summer sun have bloomed for a long time, and their appearance seems to symbolize a period of our lives. The sunflower’s height seems to reach the sky, and as summer draws to a close, it will drop its yellow petals, leaving seeds in its wake and looking forward to next year. The sunflower’s flower is temporary, but the seeds within it hold the future. The colorful flowers and leaves will fade, but in their place is hope and the promise of what’s to come. That’s how it will be with you and me.
Our time together may be limited, but the memories and experiences remain like seeds in our lives, preparing us for the future. Where there is a meeting, there is a parting, always to be prepared for, but we don’t love with the end in mind when we begin to love. There is a contrast between life and death, but we always see the hope of life. Even though the reality before us may seem dark and uncertain at times, we must believe in ourselves and move forward. So today, I hope this isn’t a hard and sad goodbye, but a positive goodbye. I hope it’s a goodbye to the wonderful people we are, who know how to look forward to what’s next.
This fall is expected to be unusually short – we’ve had a long summer, and the National Weather Service is predicting that the cold will come quickly. The change of seasons we go through reminds me of changes in life – even when they come unexpectedly, we should be prepared for them. We don’t know about them until they happen, but if we’re somewhat prepared for them, they don’t seem to catch us by surprise.
Today I’m ending 35 years of public service, and I’ve grown up working with you, and I’ve learned a lot from you. I’m excited to say that I’m fortunate to have a short fall to enjoy, and while leaving is always bittersweet, I’m using this time to prepare for a new beginning. I’ve been challenged by your hard work and passion, and now I’m looking forward to supporting you outside of the company.
One of the lessons I took away from my departure is that the attitude we take towards life determines our happiness. ‘ Edward Francis Diener talked about the ‘Mona Lisa Law of Smiles’ and said, “It turns out that happy people have a difference in attitude. People who are always happy have likely developed positive thinking strategies through both nature and nurture. Cheerful people are more likely to look for the positive, to see neutral events as positive, to see opportunities for growth in difficulties, and to have more valuable memories.” It’s true that happy people like to think positively and have an optimistic attitude.
But were these people born cheerful, or did they strategically develop their happiness through hard work? We need to realize that we too can be happy, and that it is possible when we have positive thoughts and values. Throughout my civil service career, I have faced many challenges and trials, but I have always tried to overcome them with a positive attitude. The biggest lesson I have learned along the way is that happiness is something you create, and it is important to try to find happiness in the little things in life.
Happiness and success are both things that you can cultivate as much as you put in the effort. Sometimes life throws us curve balls. However, happiness can be found when we embrace it positively, with a willingness to overcome crises and adversity. I will never stop searching for happiness, and I wish you the same.
And finally, there’s something we should all remember. Our lives are not built alone, but together. In our relationships with colleagues, friends, and family, we can support each other and share our joys. My time with you has been some of the most valuable of my life, and I look forward to what the future holds for all of you. Thank you.
Military retirement greeting
Good morning, it’s July, and the sun is shining tirelessly and relentlessly. The word “hot” is the only word that comes out of our mouths today, day in and day out. In such weather, we naturally seek shade and crave coolness. But behind the blazing sun is a shadow that stands in opposition. In the middle of the day, when the sun is strong, the shadow is short, but in the evening, when the sun has lost its strength, the shadow is long. I think our lives are like this.
At any given moment in our lives, sunlight and shadow exist together, and this is similar to our minds, where positive and negative thoughts coexist. As long as we have the power of positivity, the negative thoughts don’t gain strength. But the moment we lose the power of positivity, the negative thoughts grow stronger and stronger until they take over. Just as we seek shade in the heat of the day, we must seek the shade of positivity in our lives. I expect you to be one of those people who never lose the power of positivity in any situation. With that power of positivity, I feel like I’ve made it through 36 years since I started my military career.
It seems like only yesterday that I joined the Navy on March 19, 1973, because I liked the Navy, I liked the sea, and I liked the life. It’s been 36 years and three months since I joined the Navy. Like the wide horizons of the ocean, life in the Navy has always been about new challenges and learning. Just like adjusting the sails whenever the wind changes direction, I have been faithfully fulfilling my duties by adapting to the changing environment every moment. Looking back on the past years, I am embarrassed to say that I have been busy without accomplishing much of anything, with a mixture of deep gratitude and regret. It is thanks to the guidance and encouragement of my wonderful commanding officers, as well as my fellow ICT seniors and classmates, that I have been able to complete my naval career in such a short period of time without any major mistakes.
There is one thing I would like to ask for at this moment. As it is said that knowing is not as good as liking, and liking is not as good as enjoying, it is more important to like ICT than to know about ICT. What is more important than liking it is that you enjoy being with it, and I wish you always enjoy living with it, and I wish you always take it to the next level.
Now I am leaving this place with the bond with you deep in my heart, but I will keep all the good and bad memories as beautiful memories because they are all precious to me. I will always be by your side as a reliable senior to the juniors and a cool junior to the seniors, even though I have left this place that I have been attached to for a long time. I ask for your affectionate eyes and unwavering guidance as I start my second life by cultivating simple happiness with my family. Yours sincerely.
