Student Leader Gain Invaluable Lessons A Inaugural “Career Summit For Future Malaysian Leaders (CASFUMAL 08)” (12 - 13 Jul 2008)
The inaugural CAREER SUMMIT FOR FUTURE MALAYSIAN LEADERS (CASFUMAL'08) held on 12-13 July 2008, at Pan Pacific KLIA Hotel has gathered 350 student leaders from across 20 higher education institutions with a fresh perspective of leadership values through the sharing of experiences from top-notched industry leaders.
The event was officiated by the Minister of Higher Education (MOHE), Y.B. Dato' Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin, witnessed by Y.Bhg. Dato' Saw Choo Boon, Chairman of Shell Malaysia Bhd, Y.Bhg. Datuk Dr. Zainal Abidin Hj. Kasim, Rector of Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS and Mr. Haravinthan Arumugam, Project Manager of CASFUMAL'08.
Themed 'Career Through Leadership' , this event was organised by Career Advisory Services of Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, in collaboration with Ministry of Higher Education and sponsored by Shell, Scomi, Motorola and Agilent Technologies. The event aimed to:
1. Reinforce leadership culture, shared values and foundational behaviors among student leaders
2. Inspire the student leaders to role model and learn from established leaders
3. Foster leadership network between academia, industry leaders, and the student leaders, and
4. Ingrain entrepreneurial and leadership spirit in student leaders to strengthen the future the nation.
Kicking off the summit on Saturday afternoon was Agilent Technologies of Malaysia Vice President & General Manager, Ms. Shidah Ahmad who stressed on the key ingredients towards global leadership. Besides sharing her personal career growth journey, she also pointed out factors driving the global leadership today and the future by describing how the rate of the technological advancement has continued to drive the global leadership competencies. This was followed by Ms. Ruswati Mahmood, Scomi's Business Support General Manager who presented a talk on "Global Leadership" where the excited participants got to learn on how Scomi's leadership capabilities has expanding its diversified business all over the world.
Later that night during dinner the organising committee had also invited the CEO of Air Asia X, Mr. Azran Osman Rani to deliver a talk entitled 'AirAsia Story'. Mr. Azran enthralled the audience with his inspiring speech by challenging the audience to think out of the box, dare to make the impossible happen, strong belief in oneself, discipline of action and the sky is your limit. Speaking off the cuff, Mr. Azran kept the audience on the edge of their seats with his humorous and very engaging presentation. He ended his talk with a very ambitious AirAsia X slide quoting "Dare to Dream".
The summit continued on the following day with the officiating ceremony by the Honourable Minister of Higher Education. In his keynote address, Y.B. Dato' Seri touched on four key characteristics that a leader should have:
A leader must think and act globally. Networking is a must in order to survive in this increasingly challenging environment.
A leader must uphold his/her positive values and this must come from the heart.
A leader must develop his/her own core capabilities in the chosen field in order to be an effective leader. He/she must have the exposure, experience, depth and breadth; and an understanding of the bigger picture of both the employer and the global industry.
A leader must always maintain his/her humility.
Recalling nation's early years of establishment, the Minister said that there were many skeptics out there who doubted the nation's ability to survive and grow. Today, however, Malaysia is what it is due to the resilience, hard work and foresight of our past leaders. He added that while the foundation has already been laid, the ball is now in the participants' court to undertake the responsibility of leading the nation in the future and continuing the legacy for the benefit of the future generations.
The summit, though it lasted for one and half day, was packed with sharing sessions that served to inspire the participants. The other inspiring prominent speakers also included Y.Bhg. Dato' Nadzmi Salleh, Executive Chairman of Nadicorp Holdings Sdn Bhd who shared his thoughts on 'Marketability of Graduate Preparing for Job Market', while Mr. Mohd. Asri Hassan Sabri, Country President of Motorola Malaysia, reminded the delegates on latest challenges by delivering a topic on "Employment Criteria for Future Employee". Motorola also provided a token of five MotoQ PDA handphones to the lucky delegates who won the leadership and networking games.
Meanwhile, Mr. John CP Chang, President of Malaysian Pharmaceutical Society/GM Human Resources & Corporate Affairs of Technogas continued keeping the audience alert and refresh amidst afternoon sleepy eyes by delivering his energetic speech on "Career through Leadership".
The summit ended with a dialogue session with Mr Wee Yiaw Hin, Managing Director of Sarawak Shell Bhd/Sabah Shell Petroleum Co. Ltd. who shared with the audience on his personal journey in getting to where he is today.
The event received very good feedbacks from the participants, some of whom expressed their hope that the summit will be an annual affair for all student leaders of Malaysia's public and private higher education institutions.
