Conferment of the Honorary Doctorate of Humanity upon YABhg Tun Dr Mahathir bin Mohamad

8 June 2008

Speech by the Founder & President Tan Sri Dato' Dr Lim Kok Wing

at Conferment of the Honorary Doctorate of Humanity upon YABhg Tun Dr Mahathir bin Mohamad

Yang Amat Berbahagia Tun Dr Mahathir bin Mohamad,

Yang Amat Berbahagia Tun Dr Siti Hasmah binti Mohamad Ali,  

Your Excellencies, Ambassadors and High Commissioners, 

distinguished guests,

ladies and gentlemen.

May I begin by thanking each and everyone for coming  to share with us  this  occasion,  
when  we  pay  tribute  to  a  very rare  and special person.

To talk about Tun Dr Mahathir is easy.

There is so much that he has done.

His footprint is literally everywhere in this country.  You will also find his footprint in other countries.

But to pay tribute to  such an extraordinary person calls for more than an extraordinary effort.

So if at the end of my delivery,  there is a standing ovation, I will know we have not done too badly.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Behind every wave of progress in the history of Mankind great minds have mapped the
way forward.
Great minds that see far into the distance, far into the future.

Great minds that see deep into the hearts
of men and women.

This country had one such great mind as its Prime Minister for 22 years.

As a result this country transformed in ways we could never have thought possible.

A transformation achieved in 20 years what had taken other countries 200 years.

Malaysia transformed.

From agriculture-led to industry-driven, from export of raw commodities to export
of products originated in this country.

Malaysia changed.

From old technology to new technology, from  mechanization  to  robotics, from  analog to digital.

He focused the country on creativity and innovation as the vehicle for change. 

The great mind of Tun Dr Mahathir  re-designed, re-engineered, re-positioned,
re-aligned, re-cast and he re-vamped.

He created a revolution that he accomplished in stages and by phases over 22 years.
He built the tallest buildings and the longest bridges.  He built them with every Malaysian in mind.

With every steel frame of their construction he lifted the spirit of every Malaysian.

He re-engineered their hearts and minds to leap from impossible to possible.

He moved mountains that stood in the way as he moved the nation forward.

He embedded the maxim – “Yes We Can!”  ten years before it became a slogan of the
winning campaign for presidency in a far-away country. 

Malaysia evolved.   

Its  evolution  became  the  blueprint  for  other nations wanting to achieve the same transformation.

He  moved  Malaysia  away  from  rubber plantations and turned it into one of the world’s largest trading nations. 

He  liberalised  private  education   and Malaysia became a hub for international education.

As a result of his foresight,  here  on this campus alone you will see students from 140 countries.

Here in Cyberjaya,  where  once  it  was swampy, now stands one of the  world’s most high-tech cities.

He created multimedia super highways to fast-track Malaysia into the new economy.

Malaysia  became  a  role  model  to   the developing world. Vision 2020 was adopted as  a  road  map  by   many   developing countries.

When Tun Dr Mahathir became Prime Minister he changed the status quo.

He  broke  tradition  and  looked  East  for inspiration.  He was immediately dismissed as irrelevant but today countries in the West are looking East.  They are going East for salvation, not just for economic solutions.

He  challenged  mindsets  that  were still chained to colonialism.

He was bold and he was outspoken. 

He set the tone that rallied the developing world.

He spoke to defend the defenceless.

He spoke out for the voiceless.

He spoke to bring hope to the forgotten millions.

He spoke against war.

He spoke against occupation.

He spoke against mass destruction.

He spoke for the guns to fall silent.

He spoke for an end to military violence.

He spoke for a safer and kinder world.

He became  the voice of conscience  in  a conflict-driven, painfully divided world.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Today we gathered to celebrate Tun’s unparalleled  leadership,  his courage and his humanity.

But I have not  forgotten  for  a  second the pertinent fact that his strength had a source in  the  love and  affection  of  his  wife, his constant companion, Tun Dr Siti Hasmah. 

A remarkable person herself, a woman of immense  achievements,  herself  a  much admired person, she  stands as  the  perfect match  for her much admired husband.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Many of you know that  Tun is a  blogger.  What you may not know is  that  he has emerged  as  Malaysia’s  most  popular blogger!

At the last check,  his site was nearing 20 million hits just a bit over a year after his first posting.  Isn’t that amazing?

In internet jargon, we will have to describe  Tun a blogosphere phenomenon!

I have said earlier  that it is  hard  to pay tribute to Tun Dr Mahathir because there can be no tribute that will ever completely do justice to all that he has done for this country, and for this world.

So, I opted to produce a short film designed to capture  just a  snapshot of  the man and  his accomplishments that have made him one of the most remarkable leaders in the history of the 20th and 21st centuries.

Some while back  in  South Africa,  Nelson Mandela, a good friend of Tun Dr Mahathir, said to me, “Your Prime Minister is a very tall man”.

I corrected him by saying:  “Not really. He is no taller than me”.

He then said more assertively, “I mean your Prime Minister is a very tall leader”.

This time I corrected myself by saying: “Sure, in that sense, he is at least a hundred times taller than me!”

He was quite happy with that and then said:  “Yes, he  is very tall!  Now  you  go and  tell him that!”

Tun, I waited because I wanted to deliver the message in front of a right audience.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Here then is a very short film of a very tall man.

Copyright © 2012 Limkokwing University of Creative Technology. All Right Reserved.
Designed & maintained by World Wide Web Domination, Centre for Content Creation.