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Change is an inevitable part of life, and yet sometimes – if not most of the time – it seems to be the hardest to do. In most cases, all it takes is the power of one. It only takes one man to light a spark that gets a fire going. It only takes one man to be that change, which inspires others to make a difference.

Tans Sri Lim Kok Wing is such a man. Whether it is trailblazing the advertising industry by setting up the first wholly Malaysia creative agency – Wings Creative Consultancy in 1975 to revolutionizing the education institute dedicated to creativity – the Limkokwing Institute of creative Technology in 1992, tan Sri Lim has been one man who has made a difference.

His story is surely one of the most inspirational ones in modern Malaysia. He has managed to transform himself time and time again – from newspaper cartoonist to advertising guru to educationist. More than that, he is recognized as an embodiment of the power of transformation. And today, the seeds that he has planted have blossomed as the country takes a great leap forward by embracing the values of creativity and innovation that he has long expounded.

Just as he has done with himself, just as he has done with the tens of thousands of students who enrolled and graduated from his university, Tan Sri Lim Kok Wing is inspiring Malaysians to believe, “Change? Yes We Can!”

The Year of Innovation

This year is a significant one for Malaysia as it is the Malaysia Year of Innovation and Creativity. Launched by the Prime Minister Datuk Sri Mohd Najib Tun Abdul Razak on the 27th of January, the Premier noted that advanced economies have managed to become so because they have embraced innovation which enabled them to boost national competitiveness.

Malaysia has gone through several phases. It has evolved from a resources-based economy to a manufacturing-based one, and now the next step is to become an innovation-based nation. After all, we only need to look at this statement made by Tan Sri Lim Kok Wing in 2004 to discover the source of the Prime Minister’s epiphany.

Writing in his column Creative People, Innovation Nation – which was published in the New Sunday Times – Tan Sri Lim observed that Western nations “are the nations that now lead the world. These are nations that are now the world’s most advanced economies because they are also the world’s most inventive and most innovative… These are nations that give priority to design and creativity which are strategic to building national competitiveness.”

It is important to note than Tan Sri Lim’s column was published in 2004 – a full six years before the launch of the Malaysia Year of Innovation and creativity. Furthermore, it was two years before the launch of the Ninth Malaysia Plan which started the focus on the national economy.

In a nutshell, Malaysia owes a debt of gratitude to tan Sri Lim Kok Wing, No other man has been as committed or as vocal as he has been when advancing the virtues of creativity and innovation. Some may drop these phrases liberally in order to jump on the bandwagon, but not so Tan Sri Lim. In fact, he created the bandwagon and has pulled it tirelessly over the years, and more and more people have joined him in doing so until it has become a national agenda.

A passion for Innovation

At the end of the day, what drives Tan Sri Lim Kok Wing is neither fame nor fortune but the force of his convictions. It is difficult no to become a believer when hearing him talk about those two causes that he has made his own. A true son of Malaysia, he strongly believes that “we must build for this nation a passion for innovation” and he has instilled this passion in the students in his university.

Looking at the pivotal role Tan Sri Lim Kok Wing has played in fostering and championing creativity and innovation, it is only apt that he was honoured as the ‘Father of Innovation in Creative Education’ by the Malaysia government through the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation – Datuk Dr. Maximus Ongkili.

Speaking at the launch of the Limkokwing Innovation Bank – itself a repository of ideas and innovation from students at Limkokwing University – Datuk Dr. Ongkili noted that “Tan Sri Lim Kok Wing is an institution himself and therefore, it follows that the University has not only become an institution in this country but also the whole world over. This university has institutionalized the whole field of creative thinking and the whole field of innovation.”

The Limkokwing University of Creative Technology – which evolved from the Limkokwing Institute of Creative Technology – is perhaps the greatest manifestation of Tan Sri’s commitment to innovation and creativity, and we daresay it will be his most enduring legacy.

The Future of the Nation

As cliché as it might sound, the youth are the future of the nation. As such, it is imperative that they are given the right grounding so as to make them into the leaders of tomorrow. Tan Sri Lim Kok Wing has done that in his role as an educationist by emphasizing a focus on thinking out of the box. He was the trailblazer of a brave new world in Malaysian education, because before him, concepts such as creativity were unknown in paedagogy.

Tan Sri Lim Kok Wing turned creative thinking – that crucial part of innovativeness – into a practical and practicable subject, because at the end of the day, innovation is applied creativity. We only need to take a look at the Malaysia’s Design & Innovation Centre (MDI) in which students are given the opportunity to turn what they learn in the classroom and lecture theatres to the real world. As the professional wings of the University, the MDI helps budding students entrepreneurship learn how to build a brand and achieve brand recognition.

The Singaporean diplomat Kishore Mahbubani once wrote a book entitled, Can Asians Think? Tan Sri Lim has not only proven that Asian – or rather Malaysians – can think but they can be as creative as everyone else. He has successfully challenged the misconception that the need to comply has hindered the Asian ability to be creative by giving the students the environment in which they can reach their full potential. This is done, he once said, by telling the students to benchmark themselves against the best and set their own goals.

Challenging Mindsets

Tan Sri Lim Kok Wing is man who would say that “creating in about challenging mindsets”. And definitely, he is someone who has challenged mindsets and established ideas. No one thought that a Malaysian advertising agency could flourish in the wake of competition from larger, more established international agencies. Again, he proved them wrong.

He started Malaysia’s first ever institute of higher learning dedicated creativity when almost everyone was saying that creativity could not be taught. The success of the University and more importantly, the students have shown that the doubts were all misplaces. He decided to internationalise the University, by opening it up to students from all over the world so that today the Limkokwing campus in Cyberjaya is a veritable United Nations with undergraduates from over 145 countries sharing ideas and forming friendships with one another.

And then he decided to further bridge the gap between people and nations by setting up international campuses in countries such as Lesotho, Botswana, Swaziland, and Cambodia. The first three are particularly important, because prior to that, no foreign university viewed Africa as a viable location to setup a campus. Tan Sri Lim looked pass the negative press and saw countries full of young people who are talented and eager, and just needed the opportunity, which he gave to them.

Just has one thought it possible to set up a campus in an African country, let alone three, they could not imagine that a Malaysian university would have the gumption to venture to the UK. After all, it has always been convention for British universities to set up branch campuses in Malaysia. Tan Sri Lim Kok Wing turned things on the head when he opened the Limkokwing London campus.

All the aforementioned feats were possible because of Tan Sri Lim’s innovative personality that made him refuse to consider anything as impossible. No doubt before every venture, he heard the refrain, “No, we can’t! No, we can’t!” He dismissed these prophets of doom by saying and showing, “Yes, We Can!” and this is the same attitude that students at Limkokwing University are being instilled with before they step out into the world. These traits – creative thinking, innovative mindset, and of course supreme confidence – are the hallmarks of leaders.

Creating Tomorrow’s Leaders

It is therefore a testament to Tan Sri Lim Kok Wing that he has planted the seeds of a culture of innovation to be formed – not just in Malaysia but across the world, whether in the form of foreign students at the Limkokwing campus in Malaysia or in the various branch campuses.

Little wonder then that his efforts have been lauded by national leaders. Let us take the words of Malaysia’s former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahatir for instance. He said: “I applaud Limkokwing for their dedication in developing human capital with the right skills and the creative mindset to enable effective technology transfer that the industry needs to stay competitive.”

Another testimony came from Datuk Hishamuddin Tun Hussein Onn, the Home Minister of Malaysia, who saluted Tan Sri Lim Kok Wing by stating. “We all know that Limkokwing is a pioneer in creative education and that Tan Sri Lim Kok Wing has tirelessly advocated the need to be able to think outside the box. Long before Malaysians fully understood the term, Tan Sri Lim knew that being creative was an asset in a person. He knew about it being able to empower.”

That is perhaps the crux of tan Sri Lim’s efforts. It is the desire to empower people – Malaysians in particular – to rise above their station, to think and create, to be leaders rather than followers. While this is what he has been doing with the Limkokwing University, Tan Sri believes that the process should start at a younger age.
As such, he has called for the education system to be redesigned so that it will “create and ecosystem that builds innovation.” He warned out “we certainly would be put at a disadvantage if we maintain an education system based on rote learning,” and “if we do not fix the problem at the school level, we may lose more ground because the global environment will become even more competitive as new technologies are introduced and as new ruling come into practice.”

Perhaps the final word on this matter belongs to Tan Sri Lim Kok Wing himself who has said, “Innovation is about competition and competition is about innovation”. He knows that Malaysia has to become an innovation-driven nation with the creative workforce that will drive is forward. In a globalized world, this is not should, could, or maybe, but must. If it hopes to advance, then Malaysia must transform. It is a long road ahead, but fortunately it has a man such as Tan Sri Lim Kok Wing to show the way… just as he showed all those students in the university, by giving them wings and teaching them how to fly.