MID Annual Directors Banquet

Addresswed by Tan Sri Lim at the MID Annual Directors Banquet
10 February 2003

Guest of Honour - Prime Minister Dato Seri Dr Mahathir bin Mohamad.

The Malaysian Institute of Directors is greatly honoured by your presence.

The Non-Aligned Movement Summit involving 144 countries starts next week in Kuala Lumpur. One can only imagine how busy the Prime Minister must be, especially when he will be chairing this Summit.

How the Prime Minister is able to keep so calm and collected while taking on so much work and pressure will remain a mystery forever. Of course, there are rumours - and rumours have it that a lot of the work is actually done by the Prime Minister′s wife - Datin Seri, which explains why she is always by the side of the Prime Minister (taking down notes and quietly telling him what to do).

But they are just rumours - not to be taken too seriously, however much we are fond of rumours.

I know I speak for all when I thank the Prime Minister and Datin Seri most warmly for taking time out to be with us.

This is a historical and poignant occasion for MID. It was 19 years ago when the Prime Minister last attended an MID function. It was when the Prime Minister was made an Honorary Fellow of MID by the late Tun Tan Siew Sin who was then the President of MID.

Twelve years later, or seven years ago, Datin Seri herself was conferred the MID Honorary Fellowship by Tan Sri Khir Johari, who was then the President.

Till today, the Prime Minister and Datin Seri remain the only two Honorary Fellows of MID. We are deeply honoured that both of them have come to join us tonight.

Their presence is also a great honour to me personally. I will not be able to thank them enough for the kind support they have so warmly extended to me over the years.

In this hall, we have among us the CEOs of some of Malaysia′s largest and brightest corporations and I thank them all for joining us. Tonight, we are gathered together here for the one and same reason: we very much want to show our gratitude to the Prime Minister for all that he has done for Corporate Malaysia; for having transformed Malaysia from the slow moving, underdeveloped country that we were not so many years ago into one of the fastest growing economies in the world, complete with some of the world′s best facilities.

Dato Seri, I know I speak for all when I say that because of you, Corporate Malaysia is today more disciplined and more resilient than ever before.

And if not for your decisive and unwavering leadership, Corporate Malaysia might have collapsed. And our best performing companies fallen into foreign control or completely wiped out during the 1997-98 financial crisis. Corporate Malaysia could have lost much of its own ownership then, and along with it, Malaysia could have lost its economic independence.

I know that not one in this hall will disagree when I say if not for the Prime Minister, Malaysia Incorporated would not have succeeded, Vision 2020 would have not become such a clear goal, the Petronas Twin Towers would not have been built, the Multimedia Super Corridor would not have taken off, Putrajaya would not have been envisioned, this grand hotel would not have taken shape, in which case this gathering certainly would not have happened and I certainly would not have so much to say.

In a world of 235 countries, Malaysia is today the 18th largest trading nation.

In Global Competitiveness, Malaysia is among the world′s top 30, ahead of several fully developed countries.

In healthcare, Malaysia is acknowledged by the World Health Organisation as a role model for developing nations. This was as early as in 1994, when the Prime Minister was awarded the Health-For-All Gold Medal by WHO.

In education, we have become a world destination. There are now close to 20,000 students from a hundred countries pursuing higher education in this country.

We have come a very long way in a very short time.

It′s simply amazing how one man could have done so much and inspired so many in so short a time.

Recently, I visited a university in Hanoi, Vietnam. There I was greeted with a banner bearing two words, "Vietnam Boleh".

Dato Seri, you have not only inspired us, you have inspired many around the world.

Malaysia under your leadership has become an inspiration to many developing nations.

Today, on behalf of Corporate Malaysia, we salute the Prime Minister for all that you have done for us, and express to you our gratitude for all the sacrifices you must have made. For all the battles you must have fought. For all the headaches you must have suffered (for this we apologise to Datin Seri) in order to build us up and to place us where we are today.

The greatest gift a father can give his children is to instill in them a strong sense of self-confidence and a firm conviction that they are as worthy and as capable as anyone else.

That is the greatest gift a father can give his children.

That is the greatest gift a leader can give his people.

That is the very gift the Prime Minister has given us all and for which you will never be forgotten.

Dato Seri, just like your footprints which will forever be etched in the pages of our history, your name will forever be etched in the hearts and minds of all Malaysians.

According to Chinese astrology, the Year of the Goat is a time of tranquility - a time for peace and harmony.

I certainly hope that is true. And that it comes true for all across the world, especially the people of the Middle East, where safety is threatened by tanks and guns everyday, where lives are lost every week, and where an invasion of a country has been in the plot for months.

It is a pity our Prime Minister was not born in the USA. Otherwise, we will now be promoting peace for all instead of preparing for war.

The works and achievements of Dato Seri Dr Mahathir bin Mohamad as Prime Minister of Malaysia and a leader of the developing world will easily run into thousands of pages and that will take me a lifetime to write.

So here is a very short video clip written just to give you a snapshot of what the doctor from Alor Star has done for us, for this country, this nation, for you and I, and our children and the future of our children.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I thank you for the opportunity. Enjoy the video. After that, we will invite the Prime Minister to speak to us.