Human Development

Limkokwing University’s Graduation Ceremony 2005 (August)

Addressed by Ta
23 August 2005

The first thing I want to do is warmly congratulate all who have graduated today.

You deserve all the praises, all the attention you are getting. You have done everyone who knows you proud. I am proud of you.

Your success has not come easy, I know. You should be very proud of yourself.

"Power to change the world" is the theme of this year’s ceremony as it has been for the past 10 years. It is a constant reminder to Limkokwing students that they are here to acquire the knowledge and the character that will enable them to do ordinary things extraordinarily well.

The power referred to is the ability to imagine, the ability to create and to originate, the drive and the passion to invent and to discover, coupled with the determination to excel.

This power you have now acquired. In the process of acquiring it, you have done a tremendous amount of work, put in thousands of hours of learning, researching and experimenting – all aimed at making a difference to the outcome of whatever you were doing.

In that process you have pushed yourself to the limits, you have learned to make the impossible possible, you have learned to reach beyond.

You have in you the ability to do amazing things, the ability to make amazing things happen.

That power is in you. It is now for you to do what you will with it.

Use it well, and you will achieve success beyond your own expectations.

Develop it further, and you will achieve success beyond your imagination.

But this power that you now have, you would not have acquired if not for your parents, and those how care for you.

You have no way of knowing how happy they are that you are graduating today.

Just how proud they are of your success, you may never get to know.

And how much they have given up so you may receive the best they could afford, you may never get to find out.

You know them as your parents and guardians. But they are also your most loyal friends although you may never have looked at them that way. You ought to be very grateful to them. And you must not, for one minute, forget to show them gratitude for they have made the sacrifices.

May I now ask all graduands to be up standing to show your appreciation for your parents with a round of applause. They are the true heroes of today.

Here, I would like to mention a reminder to all of you, my departing young friends – that a Limkokwing Graduate is one who is unrelenting in his or her pursuit for excellence, and uncompromising in his quest to be among the best.

That a Limkokwing Graduate is one who cares for all who are in need, as much as he cares for his closest friends and members of his family.

With this graduation, our journey with some of you comes to an end. This is when I bid you farewell, and wish you the best in the next stage of your life’s journey. I wish you success in all that you do. May your journey take you to places you have always wanted to be.

It has been wonderful having you here with us, even if the time has been brief. We will cherish the memory. We will miss you.

Keep going, my young friends, keep well. And keep in touch.