The Founder & President

Founder's Blog

• Milestones
• Endorsements
• Recognitions & Awards
• Speeches
• Citations
• Interviews
• Quotes

Changing Mindset

Passion, 2008

As contradictory as it might sound, change is the one constant in our lives. Embracing change is to grow and move to a higher plateau. The laws of nature have shown that specie that do not evolve often end up extinct. While human beings are not exactly under threat from physical extinction, we are still bound by the rules of socio-economic Darwinism. And the first principle is that those who are able to move with the times are those who prevail, while those who fail are made obsolete. Change though does not just mean adapting what is new in a physical context, but to think differently, to look at things in a new light, and to change our mindsets. It is never easy to do so, which is why it needs someone special, someone with courage and vision to do so. It needs someone like Tan Sri Dato’ Prof. Dr. Lim Kok Wing who for the better part of 30 years has been telling Malaysians to dare to change.

If there is one person who best embodies the important of change, it would be Tan Sri Lim Kok Wing. Many of us would know of him today as an educationist who through the Limkokwing University of Creative Technology has managed to successfully export Malaysian education to the rest of the world. Yet Tan Sri Lim initially made his name in cartooning, a field far removed from that of his current vocation. Over the course of 40 years, he managed to move seamlessly across different fields of expertise – cartooning, advertising, and now education. And in all the venture he has undertaken, the same commitment to excellence is apparent in each and every one of them.

In the book of Malaysian firsts, Tan Sri Lim Kok Wing’s name would feature prominently. The first Malaysian to be the creative director in an international advertising agency- McCann Erickson, the first Malaysian to start his very own creative agency- Wings Creative Consultancy in 1975, which was also the first Malaysian agency to win the blue chip contracts that were, prior to then, the sole preserve to conceptualize and build an education institute dedicated to the teaching and promotion of creativity- The Limkokwing Institute of Creative Technology.

At the very heart of these milestones is courage. It would not be wrong to say that Tan Sri Lim Kok Wing is a extremely brave man, because only the most courageous of people are able to so readily to move out of their comfort zones, which was what he did. And at the same time, there was an immense self-belief- the same self-belief that compelled him to leave school at Form Six to enter into the world of creativity- a world in which everyone around him was saying was a dead-end. How he proved them wrong in the end.

If Tan Sri Lim Kok Wing had remained in the advertising agency, there is no doubt that his name would still be luminous. But instead of slipping into probably his most difficult yet most vital task- to change the mindsets of Malaysians so that they would accept creativity and innovation as a vital tools in the development of a modern, progressive nation. He realized that while as laudable the goals of turning Malaysia into a developed nation may be, such a goal could only be achieved in a thinking nation. In other words, Malaysians must not be follower but leaders. They must learn not only to do but to think, and to think outside the box at that.

But old habits die hard, as do old prejudices. It there are still some who look with skepticism over the concept of creativity today, there were many more of their ilk when Tan Sri Lim started the Limkokwing Institute of Creative Technology in 1992. For these people, the words “creativity” connotes mental attitude. They were the ones who believe that people should adhere to Tennyson’s famous adage, “Thiers not to reason why. Theirs but to do or die.” Tan Sri Lim knew that without the existence of a thinking population, the “die” in the verse would become all too true in Malaysian’s case.

Today, the marvelous campus of the Limkokwing University of Creative Technology in Cyberjaya stands as a testament to his vision and foresight. Inside the sprawling campus 8,000 students from all over the world study, learn, and form relationships with each other than cuts across racial, religious and national boundaries. The colourful exterior of the building reflects the vibrancy and diversity that one can find inside- Malaysians, Thais, French, British, Americans, Canadians, Mexicans. The presence of the international students though is also a telling one because it shows that Tan Sri Lim has succeeded in building the reputation of the University as an international one- one that could attract talent from the rest of the world.

In this respect, Tan Sri Lim has also done things differently from that of other private education institutions in Malaysia. Whereas the others would follow a modus operandi of exporting students and importing courses, the Limkokwing University of Creative Technology has instead imported students and exported courses. A number of reputable universities today around the world use courses designed and developed at Limkokwing. Once again, we can see self-belief and confidence in the man. By bringing his courses to the rest of the world, he is saying “Yes, Malaysians too can be thought leaders and innovators.” Today we see the principles of education excellence as espoused by Tan Sri Lim Kok Wing- principles that are based upon the promotion of creative thinking- being used in overseas in Limkokwing campuses around the world. Instead of bringing in universities from abroad to Malaysia, Tan Sri Lim has taken the Limkokwing University abroad.

Perharps the greatest testament to that is the establishment of the Limkokwing University campus in London. London- the old city of education excellence. London- where thousands of Malaysians travel to in pursuit of higher education. For decades, Malaysian students have been going to British universities, and now things have changed so much. Right in the heart of London – Piccadilly to be exact – is a Malaysian university that is attracting British students to it. Is it any wonder that a good number of universities there feel threatened by the presence of Limkokwing University in London? To quote Datuk Paddy Bowie, Tan Sri Lim Kok Wing is indeed “a dangerous man”. Dangerous because he has compelled us to shift out of old modes of thinking, old ways of looking at things, and to move out of our comfort zones. He had changed the rules of the games, and in doing so ensured the creation of a brave new world. He is indeed a true PASSIONS Man of Substance.