PEMUDAH APPRECIATION DINNER

12 JULY 2012 (THURSDAY), 8.30PM
KUALA LUMPUR CONVENTION CENTRE

Bismillaahir rahmaanir rahiim

Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakaatuh, Salam Sejahtera dan Salam 1Malaysia

Yang Amat BerbahagiaTun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, and
Yang Amat Berbahagia Tun Jeanne Abdullah

YBhg. Dato’ Sri Dr. Ali Hamsa
Chief Secretary to the Government,
and YBhg. Datin Sri Dato’ Rohani Abdullah

YBhg. Tan Sri Yong Poh Kon, Co-Chair of PEMUDAH and Puan Sri Mori Fumiyo
Distinguished Members and Co-opted Members of PEMUDAH

YBhg. Tan Sri-Tan Sri, Puan Sri-Puan Sri, Dato’ Sri- Dato’ Sri, Datin Sri-Datin Sri, Datuk-Dato’, Datin-Datin

Ladies and Gentlemen,

First and foremost I want to thank the organisers for inviting my wife, Wan Noorlina, and I to share this evening with you. We are honoured that you have taken the time to be here with us.
Friends,

2. On Sunday 24th June 2012, I became, in a sense, private citizen Sidek Hassan. As I leave the Civil Service, one I dedicated almost 4 decades of my life to, I do so with humbled pride and satisfaction. Pride at having been given the honour to serve our country as its Chief Secretary. At being privy to the intimate discussions along the corridors of power. Thank you so much YABhg Tun Abdullah for appointing me to the post. Humbled, too, by the thought that I was given the opportunity to make a difference. And satisfied that I was able to contribute in a small way to some of the decisions, changes and transformations made.

3. As I look back on my years of service, and if asked to highlight a significant milestone, I would have to say that PEMUDAH was it.

4. When we speak of PEMUDAH we have to acknowledge the foresight of YABhg Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, the then Prime Minister of Malaysia, who, in 2007, decided to challenge us into improving Malaysia’s competitiveness ranking, including and particularly in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Report. With YABhg Tun’s agreement and strong support we made PEMUDAH worked, true to its acronym, by making it easy. And that has made all the difference! Among other achievements, we improved our ranking from 25th position in 2007 to 18th position this year.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

5. If I have to single out one factor that made our job in PEMUDAH that much easier, it is the great support and endorsement of Tun when he was the Prime Minister; and of the current PM, YAB Dato’ Sri Najib for our work. By aligning our work to the thinking of the Government, we need not bother every time, whether we are on the right track!

6. But I know that the achievements of PEMUDAH are due to all of us, my friends in the private and public sectors, who so willingly and selflessly worked together to bring the desired transformation and change.

7. You know, nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if we work really hard, and our heart is in the right place, our conscience clear, amazing things happen. So Colleagues, PEMUDAH members, we helped achieve those things. I thank each of you for the many opportunities you have given to make the improvements required. I know that together we have achieved much. But I am also very aware, just as I’m sure you are, that we must continue to improve our performance; we must continue to challenge ourselves, to set BHAG – -Big Hairy Audacious Goals. And achieve them! To paraphrase Robert Frost, we have miles to go before we sleep, miles to go before we sleep…

Ladies and Gentlemen, Friends

8. It would take me all night, and then some, if I were to address each of you individually. And still I would not have done justice to the impact each of your contributions had on me, on my work, on the civil service. And as I take my leave of PEMUDAH tonight, I can’t thank each of you enough for the opportunity given to me to work with you, to share a part of my live with you. The camaraderie we achieved, the bonds we made are gifts I will treasure. It is said that some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for a while, leave footprints on our hearts, and we are never, ever the same. PEMUDAH members, your footprints, your Can Do, Must Do spirit are embedded in my heart.

9. My parting words to each of you tonight: “In this life we cannot do great things, but we can do small things with great love.”

10. I look forward to seeing PEMUDAH growing from strength to strength, under the stewardship of Dato’ Sri Ali Hamsa and Tan Sri Yong Poh Kon. But more importantly, even if PEMUDAH is not acknowledged nor remembered, more important is to make our country that much more competitive. And, a great place to call home!!!

Thank you.