BISMILLAHIR RAHMANIR RAHIM, ASSALAMUALAIKUM WARAHMATULLAHI WABARAKATUH DAN SALAM SEJAHTERA

YANG AMAT BERBAHAGIA TOH PUAN DATUK HAJJAH DR. AISHAH ONG,
PRO-CHANCELLOR, UNIVERSITI MALAYA;

YANG BERBAHAGIA TAN SRI DATO' SERI MUSA BIN MOHAMED, PENGERUSI, LEMBAGA PENGARAH MMU, DAN YANG BERBAHAGIA PUAN SRI DATO' SERI FAUZIAH SHAHROM;

YANG BERBAHAGIA PROFESOR DR ZAHARIN YUSOFF, PRESIDEN UNIVERSITI
MULTIMEDIA, DAN YANG BERBAHAGIA PUAN KHAIRANI ABDUL MAJID;

AHLI-AHLI LEMBAGA PENGARAH UNIVERSITI,

NAIB CANSELOR, REKTOR DAN KETUA-KETUA EKSEKUTIF UNIVERSITI,

TUAN-TUAN YANG TERUTAMA DUTA-DUTA,

KETUA-KETUA INDUSTRI DAN RAKAN-RAKAN USAHASAMA,

PARA DEKAN DAN AHLI SENAT,

DIF-DIF KEHORMAT, PARA GRADUAN, TUAN-TUAN DAN PUAN-PUAN SEKALIAN.

1. Alhamdullillah, bersyukurlah kita kehadrat ilahi kerana atas limpah dan kurnia Allah yang maha esa kita dapat bersama-sama bertandang ke Majlis Konvokesyen yang ke-9 bagi Universiti Multimedia atau MMU. Ini adalah kali ketiga majlis yang gilang-gemilang ini dilangsungkan di dalam Dewan Besar MMU Cyberjaya ini. Kehadiran tuan-tuan dan puan-puan amat dialu-alukan dan lebih memeriahkan lagi Sessi Kedua Majlis Konvokesyen ini.

2. Upacara Konvokesyen sememangnya adalah suatu hari yang amat bermakna untuk warga universiti, para ibu bapa dan para siswazah. Dengan penuh rasa kesyukuran saya sukacita mengucapkan setinggi tahniah kepada para ibubapa dan para siswazah di atas kejayaan para siswazah untuk meraih segulung ijazah dari universiti yang ternama ini. Ternyata pengorbanan para ibu bapa dalam memberi pendidikan kepada anak-anak diiringi dengan doa telah membuahkan hasil. Syukur Alhamdulillah.

Para hadirin hadirat yang dihormati sekalian,

3. Izinkan saya meneruskan sebahagian ucapan ini dalam Bahasa Inggeris memandangkan ada di antara para tetamu dan siswazah dari luar negara yang kurang faham Bahasa Melayu.

Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,

4. My warmest greetings to Excellencies, guests, parents and graduates for your presence at the Second Session this morning. Your presence have certainly brought much jubilance to this Ninth Convocation of Multimedia University, and I am indeed delighted to be with all of you today on my first duty as Pro-Chancellor, to honour the graduation of over 3000 students from the august hall of this famed institution. I am privileged and happy to carry out this duty of awarding the hard-earned diplomas and degrees to our clearly ecstatic graduates today.

5. I join them in this privilege and honour in being appointed the first Pro-Chancellor of Multimedia University. Allow me to record my heartfelt gratitude and thanks to YABhg Tun Dr. Siti Hasmah Mohd. Ali, Chancellor of Multimedia , YBhg Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Musa bin Mohamad, Chairman and Member of the Board of Directors of UTSB, YBhg Prof. Dr. Zaharin Yusoff, President, Multimedia University and many others who entrusted me with this role. The best way I can demonstrate my gratitude is to contribute and do my best. The honour attributed to me, I owe to a group of people who helped me develop my career – in particular the Government of Malaysia which funded most of my education and provided my early employment, my mentors, friends and colleagues – who have given me sustaining support and guidance and, of course, my family for their love, understanding and tolerence.

6. As I embark on a new chapter in the distinguished history of Multimedia University, it is like a new journey but on familiar ground. I hope to continue with a winning formula for the University, already a symbol of pride for TM. We are indeed very fortunate to have visionary leaders like YABhg Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, whose brain-child it was that MMU was established, YABhg Tun Dr. Siti Hasmah, MMU’s Chancellor and YBhg Prof. Datuk Dr. Ghauth Jasmon, MMU’s first President – all of whom merit particular mention. The current status and standing of our University is, largely due to their guidance and leadership. I am deeply honoured to be now sharing the same space.

Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen

7. While we celebrate the success of this university and our graduates, let us remind ourselves to always be thankful to God Almighty for the relative peace, harmony and stability that we enjoy as mortal beings of this land and nation.

8. Natural disasters dominated the headlines of recent times, such as the massive earthquake in Sichuan, China which killed tens of thousands and the cyclone in Myanmar, in which over a hundred thousand people lost their lives. These tragedies carry an important message to remind us all that we should never take life’s prosperity for granted. Even before the devastation wrought by these tragedies cease to linger in our minds, we are accosted by reports of the damage that human civilization is wreaking upon the environment and world’s climate, and the dire consequences of global warming if left unchecked.

9. The world has figuratively been made smaller with the advent of advanced communication technologies. All kinds of cross-boundary interaction, be they peaceful or violent, is inevitably becoming more commonplace on the face of our planet Earth. In such a world, it should be a common and global responsibility for all to uphold the tenets of peace and harmony. It is the responsibility of every citizen of this world to protect our home, and respect the lives and livelihood of every human being on it.

10. As such, the biggest challenges facing the generation represented by our graduates today are those of overcoming or eradicating the major sources of conflicts in the world – poverty, greed, pride, misunderstanding and distrust on an international scale. These challenges are indeed not new. However, they have become a matter of greater urgency as the moral and ethical growth of human civilization struggles to keep up with its technological advancement. As Einstein once put it, “We are fast becoming technological giants while remaining moral midgets”. The improvement in our quality of life and the growth of wealth in the world should be reflected across all sectors of its population. Anything less would be a gross injustice. I hope that all graduates of Multimedia University will be the leaders of the future who will bring solutions to these challenges, and maintain peace and harmony to this world.

Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,

11. Please allow me now to turn to the University and report some of its latest developments and numerous achievements.

12. In January 2008, the Board of Directors of MMU appointed a new President for the University, Prof. Dr. Zaharin Yusoff who joins us for the first time at this Ninth Convocation. Over the past seven months, he has been hard at work implementing new ideas at MMU to bring the University further along its goals of becoming a premier University in research and undergraduate education.

13. The university’s research community has designed a research and development roadmap in order to identify niche research areas and streamline its R&D activities, to achieve even greater success in sourcing for R&D funds. To further commercialize the products and services born out of our research activities, MMU has consolidated its efforts into its newly rebranded commercialization arm called cnergy. Cnergy will also serve to coordinate consultancy and entrepreneurship activities in the University.

14. Within the past seven months as well, the university has upgraded its postgraduate centre into a new institute of postgraduate studies, to encourage and to give a strong focus on developing the postgraduate education sector. MMU is also in the process of rationalising its undergraduate academic programmes, in order to ensure that all the programmes offered are competitive, relevant and cutting edge as we strive towards ever higher standards of undergraduate teaching and learning.

15. To assist the University to achieve the noble goals that I just mentioned, the University has also recently established the Yayasan Universiti Multimedia “YUM” or the Multimedia University Foundation, in order to help in fundraising efforts to support the University’s many plans and activities. Despite its relatively young age, MMU is already highly recognized by the nation, its people and the industry at large besides being not only financially sustainable, but healthy as well. All these steps are built on very sound foundation to advance MMU towards international acclaim and success in the next decade and beyond.

16. I wish to take this opportunity to record my highest appreciation to all the university’s partners and supporters, namely MACEE, JICA, the Japanese, French, and German Embassies, as well as leading multinational companies such as NTT, Agilent Technologies, Alcatel-Lucent, Siemens, Microsoft, Intel, Motorola and IBM. They have supported us before and are continuing to do so. For this, and everything else, I wish to record our deepest gratitude and may our relationship continue to excel with time. After all, we can only benefit and prosper together.

Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,

17. I would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate the university, both its staff and students, on some of its achievements this year. During the 19th International Invention, Innovation and Technology Exhibition in KL recently, two of MMU’s research projects won a gold and silver medal for the areas of multimedia and educational items respectively.

18. As for our students, their numerous accolades are too numerous to be mentioned in this speech. However, allow me to highlight a few of them. After being declared national champions at the recent ROBOCON Competition at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, MMU’s team of electronics and mechanical whizzes will be representing Malaysia in the International ROBOCON Competition to be held in India at the end of this month. Also, for the third year in a row, MMU students, from the faculty of Information Technology, have brought home this year the CISCO Networking Skills Competition Challenge Trophy after being declared overall champions. Congratulations to these outstanding students. You’ve done your university proud!

Para hadirin hadirat yang dihormati sekalian,

19. MMU kini telah memasuki Sesi Akademik tahun 2008/2009. Sesi kemasukan pelajar pada bulan Jun baru-baru ini telah menunjukkan peningkatan dalam pengambilan pejalar. Kemasukan lebih 2,500 pelajar baru membawa jumlah pelajar MMU sekarang ke tahap yang cukup membanggakan, iaitu lebih 20,000 pelajar di kedua-dua kampusnya di Cyberjaya dan Melaka. Justeru itu, suka saya mengingatkan bahawa kita perlu terus berusaha bukan sahaja untuk mengekalkan prestasi dan produktiviti kita bahkan meningkatkan lagi dengan mengambil langkah-langkah wajar dan berkesan bagi menghadapi cabaran-cabaran yang mendatang.

20. Pencapaian MMU setakat ini terbukti membanggakan dan sesungguhnya usaha untuk membangunkan Universiti ini ke tahap yang telah dicapai pada hari ini bukanlah suatu usaha yang mudah. Di atas kejayaan-kejayaan ini saya ingin mengucapkan syabas kepada semua kakitangan dan pengurusan Universiti di atas usaha gigih yang telah disumbangkan untuk membangunkan Universiti ini.

21. Tidak lupa juga saya mengucapkan terima kasih kepada semua pihak yang sentiasa menyokong MMU terutamanya Kementerian Pengajian Tinggi, Kementerian Tenaga, Air dan Komunikasi, Kementerian Sains, Teknologi dan Inovasi, TM, Ahli-ahli Lembaga Pengarah dan syarikat-syarikat ICT yang menjadi rakan kepada MMU. Saya berharap semuga usaha gigih ini akan diteruskan demi membolehkan Universiti ini untuk terus maju dan satu hari berjaya tergolong diantara Universiti ternama di dunia.

Para Siswazah yang dikasihi,

22. Izinkan saya mengambil kesempatan ini untuk menarik perhatian para siswazah terhadap tanggung jawab anda sekalian terhadap diri, keluarga, masyarakat dan negara. Sebagai rakyat negara ini, kemakmuran dan kesejahteraan negara nyata menjadi tanggung jawab anda semua. Dengan itu berusahalah dengan bersungguh-sungguh dengan sentiasa mengamalkan sifat jujur dan ikhlas dalam memikul amanah dan tanggung-jawab yang diberikan kepada anda semua. Kikislah sama sekali segala sifat negatif seperti malas, buruk sangka, lemah semangat, tamak haloba, angkuh dan sombong. para siswazah juga diingatkan supaya tidak terlibat dengan sebarang kesalahan rasuah, pecah amanah, penipuan ataupun terjebak dalam kancah maksiat dan perbuatan tidak bermoral. Ingatlah bahawa segala perbuatan baik akan mendatangkan manfaat kepada diri anda sendiri manakala segala perbuatan buruk akan hanya mendatangkan kemudharatan pada diri anda.

23. Binalah ilmu, kemahiran dan akhlak supaya anda akan menjadi anggota masyarakat yang menyumbang kepada kemajuan bangsa dan negara. Sentiasalah memperlihatkan daya kepimpinan dan semangat juang dalam segala urusan hidup anda. Selepas hari yang dinanti-nantikan ini, para siswazah telah melepasi alam Universiti dan sekarang telah memasuki fasa hidup yang lebih mencabar lagi, dimana kejayaan akan ditentukan oleh kemampuan dan ketrampilan diri terutamanya daya kepimpinan. Untuk menjadi pemimpin yang berjaya, anda semua harus mempunyai sifat keberanian, kematangan dan kebernasan dalam berfikir. Seorang pemimpin juga mestilah menjadi teladan baik kepada orang yang dipimpin dan mampu untuk menjana idea-idea baru serta membawa kemajuan kepada organisasi yang dipimpin.

24. Dalam hal ini juga, saya ingin memperingatkan kepada para siswazah supaya jangan sekali-kali melupakan asal usul dan pengorbanan ibu bapa, yang membolehkan para siswazah mencapai kejayaan pada hari ini. Saya yakin dengan jatidiri dan usaha yang ditunjukkan, anda mampu menghadapi segala cabaran hidup dalam mencapai kejayaan. Dengan melangkah diri dari menara gading ini, adalah hasrat saya supaya setiap seorang daripada para siswazah akan menjadi duta Universiti Multimedia yang berjaya, ta’at, dan mengharumkan nama Universiti dan negara.

25. Bagi mengakhiri ucapan saya ini, sekali lagi saya ucapkan ribuan terima kasih kepada dif-dif kenamaan, para ibubapa dan para hadirin sekelian serta ucapan syabas dan selamat maju jaya kepada para siswazah yang dikasihi. Saya mendoakan semoga Allah swt akan merahmati dan melindungi hidup kita semua, InsyaAllah.

24.Sekian, Wabillahitaufik Walhidayah Wassalamualaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh.