SPEECH AT THE MALAYSIAN EDUCATION FAIR

SPEECH AT THE OPENING CEREMONY OF THE
MALAYSIAN EDUCATION FAIR ROADSHOW

On 21 November 1994
AT SHANGRI-LA HOTEL, PULAU PINANG

By

Dato’ Abdul Hamid Mohamad

Mr. President and members of the Board of Directors of the Rotary Club of Tanjong Bungah, representatives of ARK Publications Sdn. Bhd, reprsentatives of the participating colleges and universities, ladies and gentlemen.

I am honoured to be invited to open The Malaysian Education Fair Roadshow, especially, bearing in mind that I am not an educationist.

I wonder why it is called a “Roadshow”. I hope it is not mistaken to be part of the PESTA programme like the boat show. Anyway we all know that this is a serious matter, and not just an entertainment programme.

I congratulate the organisers and thank all the participants for holding this fair. I am confident that the information and counselling that you will provide will be of immense help to the students and their parents, first to decide what courses they want to pursue and secondly, having made up their minds, which institutions suit them best considering the facilities available at the respective institutions and of course their budget.

I must say that the students and their parents are very fortunates to have this kind of service, a “luxury” I did not have during my days. In my time, as the first person from the padi planting community to go to an English school I had nobody to consult, nobody to advise me, nobody to guide me. I simply floated (thank God I floated and did not sink) down the stream, from one stage to another. It was by sheer accident that I landed at the Law Faculty of the University of Singapore. But graduating was not accident. It was sheer hard work. Of course, looking back I have no regrets. Indeed I consider myself very lucky. I take it to be providence (takdir). But we can’t always rely on takdir because in this world, more often than not, the powers of God are usually executed through the hands of man.

So, I hope that the students and their parents will make full use of the services available here today and that the participants will give them as much assistance as they can.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

In the name of God the Benevolent, the Merciful, I declare this Malaysian Education Fair Roadshow open.

Thank you.