UTP Convocation 2015

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim,
Assalamu’alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh,
Salam Sejahtera
dan Salam 1Malaysia

Yang Berbahagia Datuk Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin, Pro Canselor Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS,

Yang Berbahagia, Dato’ Raiha Azni Abdul Rahman, Pengerusi Lembaga Pengarah, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS,

Yang Berbahagia, Datuk Ir Dr Abdul Rahim Haji Hashim, Naib Canselor Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS,
Ahli-ahli Lembaga Pengarah UTP,
Wakil-wakil Universiti,
Wakil-wakil Industri,
Ahli-ahli Senat,
Ahli-ahli Jawatankuasa Pengurusan Universiti,
Dif-dif Kehormat,
Wargakerja Universiti,
Serta yang diraikan – para Graduan serta ibubapa dan keluarga yang dikasihi sekalian.

Alhamdulillah, marilah kita memanjatkan setinggi-tinggi kesyukuran kehadrat Allah Subhanahu Wata’ala kerana di atas limpah rahmat serta dengan izinNya jua, dapat kita bersama-sama di Majlis Konvokesyen Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS kali ke -15 pada hari ini. Saya ingin merakamkan ucapan setinggi-tinggi tahniah kepada para graduan yang telah menerima ijazah masing-masing pada hari yang sungguh bermakna ini.

2. Pada hari ini, anda akan meninggalkan kampus UTP sebagai graduan. Harapan kita untuk setiap anak-didik yang melangkah keluar Majlis ini amatlah tinggi. Harapan agar anda menyumbang kepada masyarakat, lebih daripada apa yang diterima selama ini. Untuk memimpin diri dan organisasi dalam merealisasikan aspirasi Negara. Untuk menjadi kebanggaan keluarga. Untuk menjadi kebanggaan Negara.

Graduating Class,

3. I have three messages that I would like to share today. First is, make every day count. Many of you are in your early to mid-twenties. You may be retiring sometime in mid 2050s. Forty years from now.

4. You may think that is a long time away. From experience, I can tell you it’s not a long time at all. I can visualise vividly my own graduation in 1974, 41 years ago. It’s just like a couple of years back. So plan and do from now what you want to achieve in the next 40 years.

5. There are many questions that should confront you today. Entrepreneurship or employment market? Where do you want to be in ten years, in 20, in 30 years time? Senior Management, Technical Specialist or perhaps, fulfil the entrepreneurship dream? Answering those questions is important. It is more important to realise that those questions cannot wait too long to be answered. If you think forty years is a long time, let me say again, it is not.

6. The career journey of a thousand miles starts today. The steps you take today, and in the near future will chart the direction and the pace of that journey.

7. Of course plans can change, and will change, as we learn through experience. We may make detours when some interesting scenery shows up. But one doesn’t start a journey without a map. UTP has packed your bag for the journey. You need to chart the course. Chart it beginning today. Make every step count.

8. But in whatever vocation or position you assume, think and act way above your position. You will be much more impactful. You don’t have to be a CEO before you can have the mindset of a good CEO. I am never impressed with an officer or executive who delegates upwards. Playing safe by letting a more senior executive decides. Similarly, I have a poor impression of a senior officer who insists that only he can act or make decisions. Our organisation is much better off if everyone is empowered to act for the Common Good. But this is possible if we have a culture of empowerment, of trust and trustworthiness.

9. At the expense of sounding cliché, let me say it, “Today is the beginning of the rest of your life”. Carpe Diem! Seize the Day. But seize it at a higher level of thinking and action than what an average person thinks befit your current status.

10. Let us seize the moment in every aspect of our life. Seize the moment not only in our work, but also in our personal life. If I may, that is another definition for work-life balance. Balance is not to say first thirty years for work. Next twenty years for family. And the remainder, if any, for the hereafter. It is something we need to balance every day. Balance it by working and living your family life today. And every day. There is no guarantee family and friends will still be there when we finally reach that ‘next twenty years’. Our parents will not be around forever. Our children’s precious growing up years will disappear fast. Make that time today.

11. If we don’t take that first step fast enough, we will end up packing it in towards the end. One day late now, is one less day to reach our full potential. One less day to improve ourselves. One less day to serve others. And that will be a disservice to the potential each and every one of us have been blessed with.

12. And how do we make each day count? How can we make each day we have more meaningful and more productive than each day of our previous generation? By challenging the status quo. Don’t follow the rules just because they are rules. Seek to understand them. If it doesn’t make sense, question it. But don’t be arrogant or rude. Show that you are genuinely interested to understand the rules. There are many a rule and policy today that have gone past their shelf life, because no one dared to question. So we may be wasting our days doing things that are not really necessary. You can change that. Also, learn from mistakes. It’s OK to make mistakes. Just don’t make the same mistake twice.

Graduands, Ladies and Gentlemen,

13. My second message today is get your basic swing right. In golf, no matter the course, or the club used, it is about having the same basic swing. It might feel like there are a million things to control just to get one swing right – the setup, the swing, rhythm, balance, hip turn and many other variables. But the goal is, in fact, really simple – create a lot of club speed and transfer that to the ball. Get the basic swing right, and repeatable. The more repeatable the swing, the more consistent is the outcome. For good golfers, it is so effortless. It’s in their groove. It’s in their DNA.

14. Getting the same basic swing is also true in our work. No matter the industry, sector or function, the fundamentals are the same. In business, in management, in leadership. It is about getting the basic repeatable principles. There are many such principles. I prioritise two, namely Integrity; and Treat others like how we’d like to be treated. Or better!

15. My third message is “Don’t forget your roots”. I pray that I never forget mine. I also pray that my children will not forget my kampung. I come from an obscure village called Cherok Paloh, somewhere between Kuantan and Pekan, in Pahang. I am very thankful to Allah SWT, and to everyone in all these years who had enabled me to speak here today as the Pro-Chancellor of a University that is reputedly the best Private University in Malaysia. And to be Chairman of Malaysia’s only Fortune Global 500 company.

16. I keep reminding myself, and reminding my four children, of some important lessons. Firstly, it doesn’t matter where we come from, what matters is what we do with our lives. Secondly, although it doesn’t matter where we come from, we should never forget our roots. And those who enable us to be what we are!

Ladies and Gentlemen,
17. Let me end by registering my deepest appreciation to my colleagues at UTP, for their hard work, support, encouragement and prayers. I share their pride in witnessing how our graduates today have grown over the past four years as they dashed through the hallways, stayed through the night and persevered through the years. I sincerely thank each and every one of you for your dedication and commitment in nurturing our future generation. Year after year. For the past 18 years. And in years, to come, InsyaAllah.

18. The measure of a University is not in the number of graduates we produce. It is in the number of lives touched and improved by our graduates. So, the work is not yet done. It has just begun!

On that note, I wish you a fulfilling life in your chosen path.
Wabillahi taufik wal-hidayah, Wassalamu’alaikum, Warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.