Cyberjaya: Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak has dedicated an honorary doctorate he received from a private college here yesterday to his late father.

Najib said he shared the doctorate of social transformation with Malaysia’s second prime minister Tun Abdul Razak Hussein, who was instrumental in introducing the Felda scheme as one way of helping the rural poor 50 years ago.

“I am touched by the award of this doctorate which should be shared with what my late father has carried out 50 years ago. “If we can enjoy the fruits of the labour, it is because the struggle started long ago at a difficult time.

“The outcome of the scheme didn’t come within two or three years but 50 years after the idea and the struggle took off,’ he said at the Limkokwing University of Creative Technology (LUCT) here.

Najib said while it was true that he had been involved in politics and served the country for 30 years, his contribution still paled in comparison with the country’s founding fathers.

“Indeed, I stand on the shoulder of giants and walk in their shadow,” he said.

The ceremony also saw 416 students from Felda settlements graduating with diplomas in various fields under the scheme’s Generasi Baru (new generation) programme.

Three students also received the Datuk Seri Najib Tun Abdul Razak Award for Creativity and Innovation from Najib.