Building a Progressive Future. Together.

Last week, I was invited to return back to UKM to address the 4000 new students. This was the first time for the past 30 years that I delivered a speech in Bahasa Malaysia. The purpose of the speech was to motivate our younger generations to be a progressive person both in mindset and in spirit, as the world that we live in today, is entering into the era of AI in Everything, and a digital civilization.

Here is a English version of the speech.

Opening：My Life Story

1.      First of all, Congratulations and a very warm welcome to UKM to all new students. I have left UKM 28 years ago and having lived in overseas for 25 years. I did not get many chances to speak in Bahasa. Today, I will try and make an effort to deliver my speech in Bahasa, and I hope you can forgive me if my delivery was not as proficient as it should be.

2.      (Begin Bahasa) Who am I ? Why am I here ? Where will I be ? These were the three fundamental questions that were lingering in my mind, as I was sitting here 32 years ago as a freshy just like you.

3.      But be at ease. I can assure you that your journey here during the next four years will be an exciting adventure that will transform your life, if you learn how to let go of what you have known and embrace the new experience with an open mind, and an open heart.

4.      Letting Go. That’s right. This is the first step in embracing new knowledge. It is also the title of a book that I wrote for my son, when he went to university.

5.      Letting go begins with knowing who you are, knowing why you are here, and ultimately deciding where you WANT to be. Let’s begin my story with the very first question, who am I? How did a kampung boy like me became a global citizen?

6.      Twenty-eight years ago, I graduated from UKM. I came from a poor family. Four years before my graduation, my father was diagnosed with a relapsed in throat cancer. My father had to work three jobs in order to put me into college. I did not have any scholarship from the government. He was working in Nanyang Press at night and he drove a taxi during the day time. My father died 18 months after my graduation. He was 49, only.

7.      There is a saying, that a great soldier is never ready to confront any battle, unless he is being forced into the battlefield. Out of a sudden, when the responsibility to care for the entire family suddenly falls upon my shoulder overnight, I just had to step up as I was being forced to the corner, given my family was running deep into debt due to father’s unpaid medical bills. My youngest sister was only 12 years old, and my father was the sole bread winner then. So, when there was an opportunity for me to work in China, I did not hesitate and jumped on to the leap of faith.

8.      Through hard work and determination, I became the youngest CEO in the history of the industry. China was rising leaps and bounds as she transformed her economy into a global player. My professional achievement was recognized by Harvard as they appointed me into their global advisory board. It did not end here as both Rutgers and UKM have awarded me with the most distinguished alumnus award, and Cannes even awarded me the prestigious Global Media Person of the year, along with iconic previous recipients such as Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.

9.      Due to my heavy involvement and passion in digital technology, in particular how artificial intelligence would impact our world going forward, I soon found myself, a kampung boy from Malaysia, having to engage with global leaders such as the Prime Minister of China, President of the United States, the President of France, the Prime Minister of Japan, the Queen of Finland, just to name a few as these global leaders somehow realized the significant role of advanced technology would play in curating the future history of mankind.

10.    The IMF even invited me to deliver a keynote speech as they were trying to determine the challenges pertaining to computing the digital components of global GDP.

11.    So Who Am I ? What I have learnt is that, my job title does not define who I am. My passion, my personal value and my behavior do. Learning to discover and live peacefully with your best passion, having a righteous value system as the central gravity of your life, and be committed to demonstrate a daily behavior that reflects your values; all these fundamentally form the true north of who you really are. Knowing who I am begins with the understanding of one’s self-worth. And this is an ongoing process and a life long journey.

12.    However, success in life can become overwhelming and dangerous, if one does not remember the roots of where he comes from. That is why I did not forget about my national duty. I often come back to Malaysia to contribute my ideas on how Malaysia could transform herself into a digital economy. I have delivered keynote speeches to various policy makers, for example in the Global Islamic Finance International Conference organized by Bank Negara; presented a policy speech on education reform to the Ministry of Higher Education; and I even travelled to Kuantan offering my help for Yayasan Pahang to improve the state economy better. My recent appointment as a board Member into the Khazanah by the Prime Minister was another testimony of my commitment to national duty.

13.    My fellow students. The calling for national duty is becoming a rather deafening sound in my heart lately as I am deeply concerned that Malaysia is missing out on the opportunity presented in a world that is increasingly digital in all aspects of our life. And not to mention being ignorant to the devastating consequences from such global transformation.     

14.    This then leads me to talk about the next key question. Why am I here. What do we know about HERE? Where is the world evolving into?

Part II Why Am I HERE?

15.    My fellow students. The world is no longer defined by the physical space but digital power. This shows the changes of GDP in the U.S. and four Asian countries. This is China’s GDP, which has increased nearly 37 folds over a period of 30 years. In 2018, China’s digital economy hit 31.3 trillion, accounting for more than 1/3 of GDP. Successfully transforming their economy digitally is the reason why China is becoming such a powerful nation today. The US China trade war is really about tech-war.

16.    The world is no longer driven by capital & resources but brain power & technology. In 1990, the top ten most valuable companies in the world were mainly from the banking, oil and communications industries; just 30 years later, these companies have been replaced by new ones. Today, among the ten largest companies by market value, seven are tech companies, including Microsoft, Apple, Tencent, etc. Research shows that in every three days, a new unicorn company would emerge, most of them are tech companies.

17.    In this world, there is no boundary to the influence of technology. We're entering an era of “AI in Everything”.  AI is fundamentally changing the way we live, work and relate to one another. In the retail industry, smart unmanned stores are being launched. One of the biggest implication is on the type of work that will be available in the future. In the fastest time frame, some of the work today will no longer be around. McKinsey & Company has reportedly said that 30% of work from 60% of occupation type would be automated, and the Chief Economist from Bank of England has predicted that 80 million jobs from the USA and 15 millions from the UK would be taken over by robotic. We need to be the master of AI in the future, and not the slave to the technology.

18.    Finally, the world will no longer be the same faster than you think.  The world Economic Forum has identified 21 tipping points that will happen in the world by 2025 where specific technology shifts will become mainstream in our society. 2025 is just six years from today. Everyone is talking about IR4.0 in this country. But how many people really understand that the real technological impact is going to happen so much faster than we know? Just look at these numbers. 10% of the world population would be wearing cloths connected to the internet and glasses connected to the internet. The first 3D printed car will be in production. 10% of the cars will be driverless in the US. Where will Malaysia be, five years from today?

19.    My fellow students. Why am I here?  I’m here to let you know that you’re no longer bounded by your circumstances but your ambition and imagination. No education in the world today will be wholesome enough to prepare you for a job when you graduate four years from today.

20.    I’m here to let you know that embracing digital civilization is a must not a plus. No one, no county can afford to be inward looking. The future of our country does not only depend on how well we develop our economy domestically, but instead heavily rely on the concept of globalization and digitalization.

21.    My question to you is, do you know why you are here today? And do you know where will you want to be tomorrow?

Closing： Where Will I be ?

22.    A few months ago, I was granted the privilege to have an audience with our King. His Majesty has summoned me to the palace to provide a briefing on the latest update on global digital transformation. His Majesty was very pleased with what I have said. Before I left the palace, his parting words to me was this. Now that you have met your king, go serve your country, and make us proud.

23.    Go Serve Your Country. How many of us can actually relate to this royal decree in our day to day life ? As an undergraduate student, how do you serve your country? Which part of your country that requires your service? Must you be in the army? In politics? How do you even begin?

24.    My fellow students. It is not that difficult. There are 25 words in our national anthem, Negaraku. Negaraku, tanah tumpahnya darah ku, rakyat hidup, bersatu dan maju. Our founding fathers have only two expectations on us. Bersatu dan maju. For the past sixty years after our independence, we have been trying our very best to be united. Just look at all the noises in media today, we spend more time arguing about national unity every single day. But we must realize now that if we are not progressive, we will have no future. The world today functions in a highly connected and digital manner. Competition is no longer within the resources inside of a country, but regionally and globally.

25.    Where will I be ? I want to be in a progressive Malaysia. Your biggest responsibility now is to become a responsible progressive person. History has repeatedly told us that the only way for any nation on earth to become great, is when their younger generations are progressive in mindset.

26.    My fellow students, there are three things you can do immediately as a progressive person.

27.    Firstly, A progressive person has the ability to think independently.

This means the ability to make own judgment on what was right from wrong. Malaysia recently has passed a law allowing younger generation to vote. In Malaysia today, it was forecast that 15 million or 66% of the voters would be between 18 and 40, which means that the youth will have the dominant political voice to elect the government and choose their leaders.

28.    Recently, the Perak ruler Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah is urging youngsters to cast their votes based on rationality and facts, and not on sentiment and emotions. This again highlight the importance with cultivating the ability to think independently. We live in a world of social media where people are constantly bombarded with untruthful fake news. Do not believe in anything that you see in social media without taking your own initiative to dig deeper into any issues.

29.    Secondly, a progressive person seeks to embrace a digital lifestyle

This means helping our country to catch up in the progress of digital economy as we are really behind in preparing ourselves in the challenges of industrial revolution 4.0.

30.    Malaysia cannot progress into the world of digital economy if we do not strive to have our very own digital entrepreneurs. We need to nurture and develop our very own Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Pony Ma, Jack Ma of the world. We humbly welcome and always need to learn from foreign technology expertise. That was why we had the Look East Policy forty years ago. But the sad thing is that, we have been looking east and west for more than fifty years! Haven’t we realized that we cannot rely on foreign enterprises to build the technology foundation of our nation? Malaysia needs to build our very own technology expertise. And where would these future entrepreneurs come from? It has to be from you and from here!

31.    During all the previous industrial revolutions, the catalyst to progress in humanity has always got to do with new innovation and technology. Know that in the world that is moving towards a digital civilization, technology and innovation is no longer an isolated subject or industry, but it is embedded in everyday life, in everything. It is OK if you are not a computer scientist or a coding engineer. But every one of you at least must become an advocate of digital knowledge; the practitioner of digital knowhow and better still, strive to become the pioneer of digital transformation within your field of expertise.

32.    Lastly, my fellow students. A progressive person cares to make the world a better place

Last year I was invited by the UNESCO to discuss how global policy makers must work together to set the appropriate guidelines for the development of artificial intelligence. I shared with the audience that artificial intelligence must exists for one and only purpose, to make the world a better place, for the world that we are living in today, does not really belong to us, we are just the caretaker for the future generations.

33.    In a world of digital civilization, innovation propelled by artificial intelligence can bring good things to prosperity, but it can also bring bad things to humanity. We need to ensure that humanity remains the Master of Technology, so that the dark side of technology is not misused by the wrong people for the wrong reasons.

34.    Everyone can make a difference, if we have a progressive mindset, a guiding conscience and an inclusive spirit that genuinely want the world to become a better place not just for one people, some of the people, but all humanity.  

35.    When I left UKM, I took away from here something far more precious than intelligence. It was not the academic materials from all the classes that I attended, because new knowledge would keep reinventing itself, making materials in the textbook nothing more than just historical artifacts. Rather, a wisdom that would stand the test of time, that would become a guiding light into the future, something that was rooted in our Malaysian culture, is now becoming even more important in our world today.

36.    This profound wisdom that I took away years ago, was well captured in three words, Ilmu, Mutu dan Budi. And I sincerely hope that you will find the priceless values within, just like I did.

Ilmu Mutu dan Budi

Ilmu Mutu dan Budi

Itulah harga diri

Hidup siswa siswi

Harapan ibu pertiwi

Ilmu Mutu dan Budi

Itulah pelita hati

Asas pembina peribadi

Untuk menabur bakti

Itulah pegangan hidup kami

Sumber kekuatan rohani

Mutiara peradaban asli

Titian hidup abadi

Ilmu Mutu dan Budi

Itulah pusaka sejati

Menuju cita-cita murni

Semoga Tuhan memberkati

37.    Thank you.