Among others, he told graduates, “The scroll is not the end of your learning. Learning is a lifelong thing. In my time, things changed very slowly, they took years. In the current digital age, things change faster, by the months, weeks, even days. Continuous learning is now a critical part of life. Whatever you learn today will change so you have to keep on learning. Learning new things will add value to you, your organisation, and in the end, your country. That’s how the country will become a knowledge-based economy.”
Urging the graduates to improve their English language proficiency, he noted, “In the past, at international conferences, our delegates used to speak on behalf of their colleagues from other countries. Today, those colleagues are the ones speaking up. Sometimes when our delegates speak up, we end up wanting them to keep quiet as they speak badly.”
Tan Sri Azman revealed that he was inspired to improve his English language proficiency by an American teacher at his alma mater, Methodist Boys School in Sentul, who had praised an essay of his with the comment – “You write like Ernest Hemingway.”
However, he noted the inadequacy of education without good values such as accountability, responsibility, humility, honesty, integrity, and respect for people. “Many smart people don’t have these values. 1MDB’s Jho Low is a Stanford graduate but he used his skills for the wrong things. Many people who obtained government study loans have not paid back. There is RM5-RM6 billion outstanding. Because they don’t pay back, others are deprived of a loan. Where is the integrity and accountability?
“We are now among the top countries in the world for corruption. We want to be no. 1 but not in that category. The corruption cases are the tip of the iceberg. Previously the amounts involved were small but now they are billions of dollars. Corruption has become endemic in our culture. Some are going to haj on haram money. The only cure is to be like Singapore – they are very successful in running their country because they have zero tolerance for corruption.”
The Pro Chancellor also addressed topics relevant to the graduates in each session such as education and management, concluding with the declaration that all graduates are now part of OUM’s alumni.
