20 July 2013 will be a day remembered forever for hundreds of parents and more than a thousand Limkokwing University students who recently graduated.
20 July 2013 will be a day remembered forever for hundreds of parents and more than a thousand Limkokwing University students who recently graduated.
The graduation ceremony was held at Putrajaya International Convention Centre and was attended by royalty, ministers, commissioners, ambassadors, industry guests and the media.
The royal guest list included the Tunku Bendahara of Kedah, HRH Dato’ Seri Utama Tan Sri Tunku Annuar Alhaj Ibni Almarhum Sultan Badlishah, who was conferred with a Honorary Doctorate of Social Development for his many endeavours to raise the quality of life of the people in Kedah. He was accompanied by his wife, the Toh Puan Bendahara of Keda, HRH Datin Seri Utama Puan Seri Dato Seri Hajah Noor Suzanna binti Abdullah. Also present was Limkokwing University Chancellor, HRH Sultanah of Pahang Sultanah Hajjah Kalsom.
The event started with an opening address by Limkokwing University Founder and President, Tan Sri Lim Kok Wing, who congratulated the graduates and wished them well on their future endeavours. He said they were the future generation and urged them to continue working hard especially to develop their countries.
“Whatever you do, will have an impact on the change that is seen around the world,” he said.
He went on to say that young people have been at the forefront of the latest ground-breaking innovations, citing big companies like Facebook and Google, and said the graduates also had the capability to create their own future.
“You are well equipped to succeed, the ability to shape and design the future is now in your hands.”
HRH Dato Seri Utama Tan Sri Tunku Annuar Alhaj Ibni Almarhum Sultan Badlishah also went on to address the crowd. He said he was happy to be addressing a crowd from over 160 countries, and said with the amount of creativity he noticed about the university, he was “not surprised that this is not only Malaysia’s University of innovation, but had also been declared Malaysia’s University of Transformation.” He said the university has been paving the way forward, and went on to call Tan Sri Lim Kok Wing a ‘role model.’
“He has provided financial assistance to young people all over the world, so they may acquire an education,” he said.
The excited graduates were also full of gratitude and praised for Tan Sri Lim Kok Wing, saying through the university’s unique approach to education, he has changed their lives. Ambassadorship Award winner, Moreblessing Shumba from Zimbabwe thanked Tan Sri Lim Kok Wing for his ground-breaking “vision of uniting the world through education.”
“I don’t know and wouldn’t imagine where we all would be without the vision of Tan Sri Lim Kok Wing,” she said.
The Limkokwing choir performed a song named ‘Kasih’ dedicated to HRH Dato Seri Utama Tan Sri Tunku Annuar Alhaj Ibni Almarhum Sultan Badlishah, and he was later presented with the first music album. He was then also presented with a commemorative plaque of the day.
More performances and presentations followed, with the Limkokwing choir dedicating song like ‘You raise me up’ to the parents, and various videos by the university were played.
Over 1,000 bright young minds proudly walked across the stage to receive their degrees and diplomas after years of hard work. Among the students were more than 100 Global Generation FELDA sponsored students who had the opportunity to study in London for a semester to develop themselves.
Those students who had shown exceptional qualities throughout their studies were shown recognition with awards in the categories of: Tan Sri Paduka Dr. Limkokwing Award for Excellence, Tan Sri Paduka Dr. Limkokwing Award for Leadership, Industry Award for Excellence, Dato Sri Najib’s Award for Creativity and Innovation, Chancellor’s Award, University Colours for Ambassadorship Award, University Colours for Achievement in Sports Award, and University Colours for Command Performance Award.
One of the graduates, Industry Award for Excellence winner, Ruta Balciunaite from Lithuania, in her speech said “Limkokwing is a special place. It’s more than just an institution, but rather a place where I travelled the world, met new people, learned new languages, learnt about different cultures and tried new food.”
The graduates continued to say that they believed Limkokwing University has enabled them to bring change to their nation, and were hopeful and eager to get home and start working.
“I have learned to think outside the box, and with the achievements I have got from this university, I believe I will contribute greatly to my country,” said Public Management graduate and Chancellor’s Award winner, Anthony Brima Gorga from Sierra Leone.
Another graduate, Brian Adam Pratama from Indonesia said he would always remember the university’s interesting way of learning, in which lecturers actually gets students involved and take them out for industry experience.
“I actually enjoyed coming to class, because the lecturers were not just trying to feed us information, they actually got us involved, and made sure we all participated,’ he said.