Media Centre

Mention the name Tan Sri Dato’ Dr Lim Kok Wing, the words “creativity’ and “innovation’ will most certainly come to mind.

Besides over 30 years of involvement in, among others, journalism, advertising, strategic and corporate communications, designs, publishing, audio-visual production, performing arts and business and community development, Lim has stamped his mark as a pioneer in regional creative education through the establishment of the Limkokwing University College of Creative Technology.

Located in Cyberjaya, Limkokwing is a unique establishment. Running on the concept of “industry within university’ against the backdrop of “creativity fused with technology’, the campus provides the ideal environment for innovative thinking and development.

It also houses the Malaysia Design Innovation Centre, the professional arm of Limkokwing and a regional creative hub that aims to change the design landscape. The centre works with the Malaysian government to produce a more creative workforce “ and a more innovative nation.

Industry within university

From the list of courses provided at Limkokwing “ multimedia, broadcasting, communications, fashion, animation, design, architecture, business, information and communications technology (ICT), tourism, film and television, and performing arts “ there seems to be nothing extraordinary about the university nor its offerings. However, a visit to the campus may quickly change that opinion.

With a population of some 4,000 students from 65 countries, Limkokwing promotes a new kind of learning where students gain industry experience by participating in brand creation and development through new business units set up on the campus. They learn to work with industry professionals and how different disciplines come together to create a brand as well as the various techniques to promote a brand.

“We didn’t mould Limkokwing to fit into a conventional university model; we kind of made use of our industry experience,’ Lim says.

“I’m not really an academic person; I’m really an industry person. So, we use industry experience to develop this university, and therefore we work closely with the industry.’

Asked about the concept of “industry within university’, Lim explains that the university does not just look at the theoretical aspect of what it delivers, but also gets into the practice of it. Hence, the students are piped to the industry very quickly.

“The university is set up like a huge multi-disciplinary creative department where students of a particular course have an opportunity to look at what others are doing and integrate. We actively collaborate with the industry “ from the Government to the manufacturing people to the branding people “ on projects ranging from furniture to designing Bluetooth applications, clothes, and even setting up and operating cafes.’

Limkokwing students are involved in the innovation and promotion of the products and services. “And as soon as we’re ready, we’ll franchise the whole thing,’ Lim says.

Limkokwing is also looking to export the brands developed through the graduates when they return to their home countries. “If we succeed, and I think we will, we will bring the brand franchise to many countries within a very short time,’ Lim says. “Meanwhile the students will learn how to manage business, and learn to create and build enterprise.’ In five years, Limkokwing hopes to have students from at least 100 countries.

“We aim to be the best in the world, and the most recognised in what we do. Hopefully, it will put Malaysia on the map as home to this particular university.

“In five years, we would have more students going home and lots more friends from around the world. Malaysian graduates would be networking with 50 or 60 countries from around the world by then. I think that would be our best contribution “ building that community of a new generation,’ Lim says.

Limkokwing, according to Lim, is also very technology-driven.

Content matters

“We place a lot of emphasis on new technologies. If you look at countries that innovate and those that don’t, the countries that do have a very well-developed education system and have the ability to innovate. These are countries with very advanced enabling tools “ computer and software. Those countries that do not innovate have poor education and little access to new technologies, and often they are left behind.’

Asked to comment about the local content industry. Lim says it is still very small because “we have not looked at how to connect the Government’s efforts with industry. The policies are always right and the strategies are always well-written, but there’s no connection with industry “ that has been our problem, and still is.

“We have to do a fair bit to revamp the way we have been building. We have done very well in terms of infrastructure, but we haven’t really done very much in getting the capacity in place to build content. We’re not lacking in technology and infrastructure; we’re lacking in knowledge to build the industry.’

Lim believes that Malaysia must become a content-rich country because at present she is not able to compete with some other countries in areas such as manufacturing, engineering and electronics.

“High profit areas are in content, creativity, etc. We have to become a knowledge economy, meaning we have to create content. We have to trade through content… to create the use of content through the Internet so that other less-developed countries would have to come here for their content. We should export educational content to as many countries as possible,’ he says.

“And because Malaysia is ahead of most developing countries “ which is why developing countries come here to study “ we will be able to export application content if we focus on it. If we focus on entertainment content, we will be able to produce it for a lot of Muslims around the world. We can be a centre for Arabic music.’

Lim also believes that it’s time Malaysians paid attention to innovation and creative thinking. “There is not enough emphasis placed on individuals who have succeeded in breaking new grounds, and not enough emphasis on SMBs (small and medium-sized businesses) which are struggling and which will be the future leaders one day,’ he says.

Lim reckons that there is not enough faith in local talents.

“We seem to think others must know better, and we often have the tendency to overlook our own talents and go elsewhere to pick others. We have to change that mentality,’ he says.

“I say this because when you talk about your knowledge economy and industry, you really need to strengthen on local knowledge. You can’t be still in the mode of relying on others telling us what to do. With today’s technology, we use the same technology as the people in New York, so that has been equalised.

“So, it is really the manpower and mind power. We must develop local mind power, but we must also encourage and motivate it,’ he says.

Q: What do you enjoy most at work?

“I enjoy everything that I do. The only problem in this country is you can’t chase people fast enough. The thinking part is most interesting.’

Q: How do you manage to have time for everything?

“I sleep very little. I sleep way after midnight and wake up before (the Muslims’) prayer time. I think when you get into a creative circle, you don’t stop. The world doesn’t stop on a Sunday and start again on a Monday. And today, you communicate with the world “ when you are sleeping, they are talking “ and you become part of that community.’