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YB DATO’ MUKHRIZ MAHATHIR
DEPUTY MINISTER OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND INDUSTRY
AT THE CREATIVE YOUNG ENTREPRENEUR AWARDS 2011 PRESS CONFERENCE
17 August 2011 (WEDNESDAY)
Sunway Hotel, Petaling Jaya
(Salutation)
Assalamualaikum W.B.T, Good Afternoon and Salam 1Malaysia.
1. First of all, I would like to extend my sincere appreciation to the organisers for their kind invitation. I am pleased to be among young entrepreneurs today and soon we will announce the 10 Finalists of 2011 Junior Chamber International Creative Young Entrepreneur Awards. I would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate the Junior Chamber International Malaysia and the Junior Chamber International Petaling Jaya for their laudable effort in organizing this inspiring and timely event. I believe that we all need to be as creative as we can to successfully wade through the strong waves of the current global economic scenario. Be creative and innovative in order to better our nation’s economy; or to enhance the administration of your company; or to better our society as a whole; or to develop our businesses; excel our careers; or even in our daily routines – we must be creative.
2. This is due to the changing of global trends and human development. The world is ever-changing and if we do not adopt an open or unrestricted mindset we will eventually fail to adapt to the new reality and be rendered irrelevant so to speak.
3. Successful nations in the past are falling behind developing nations and growing regions that are forming a new economic nucleus powering the global economy. The world is in such a dynamic state that new ways of thinking and doing things are being applied every day. Hence, the need to constantly think outside the box.
4. Take your mobile phone as an example. Who would have thought that it will be such an important tool for us today? As compared to being just a limited communication tool within reach of the privileged just two decades ago-it has evolved to become an important Smartphone made available to the general population. We would be hard press to go a day without our Smartphone. 5. The budget aviation industry offers another good example. Previously, it was inconceivable that one day you can travel to Penang from KL cheaper by airplane than by bus. Such conveniences are the result of efforts of successful entrepreneurs who believe in the power of creativity and innovation and successfully embrace it. With Vision 2020 just 9 years away, it is the Government’s aim to engage the younger generation to continue to realise our nation’s dream. We will need to draw on as much creativity as we can muster to achieve a developed-nations status.
6. Therefore, I am pleased to note that the one of the main objectives of the JCI Creative Young Entrepreneur Award (CYEA) is to recognise the outstanding young entrepreneurs in Malaysia for their creativity. I believe we have a lot of creative talents in Malaysia, and it is my hope that this award will encourage more young entrepreneurs to take a more creative approach in their work. This event aims not only to recognize these creative entrepreneurs but more importantly spur them to compete at the international arena as far as this award goes. Hopefully, Malaysia can have a spot among the Top 3 global winners replicating the success of Datuk Seri Edmund Santhara in 2008 who went on to become the World Winner. Indeed, this bears strong testimony to the fact that Malaysians are able to compete and lead internationally.
7. I am certain that our Top 10 finalist which will be announced shortly faced many obstacles before reaching where they are today and for that I would like to applaud their efforts. To be selected from among your peers by a group of established judges is by no means a small feat and I hope that you will not stop here but will press on to achieve greater heights for your business. It is my hope that when we announce the Top 3 winners during the CYEA Awards Ceremony in Sunway Convention Center on 26th September 2011, you will strive even harder to compete with your international peers at the CYEA International Round of Competition and Malaysia will have another World Winner when the final results are announced during the JCI World Congress in Brussels, Belgium from 1st to 5th November 2011.
My young friends,
8. Here’s some food for thought. Murugavel Janakiraman the founder of Bharat Matrimony – one of India’s largest matrimonial website companies and one of India’s top youth entrepreneurs initially didn’t have any idea of how big his company could be. Critics dimmed his prospects of success because they felt that Indians were too conservative for an online marriage portal to succeed. He tackled this problem by providing various creative privacy measures that gradually made Indians comfortable with his product. Mr. Janakiraman said that he didn’t get into this business solely to make money. He says every entrepreneur must be driven by purpose and passion. He was quoted as saying – “It’s not about the money”. It’s about creating success, creating the name, creating the institution which can live forever”.
9. In this context, the question that I would like to pose to this audience is can we achieve economic progress without stability? Is regressive politicking an essential element in a democracy? Can anything positive come out of a culture of extremism void of the values of compromise?
10. These posers are pertinent to all of you as young entrepreneurs. To my mind, events around the world show that political gridlock can effectively shut down a government and cause global turmoil. Perhaps, one of the greatest lessons that we can draw from such events is that a nation must always be true to its founding ideals. We flounder when we turn our backs on those values. Being united as a nation in the spirit of compromise and hard work will never be out of fashion. Let us reject the stated notion that "politics as a practice, whatever its professions has always been the systematic organisation of hatreds”.
11. I am confident that you as the custodians of this nation’s future will make the right choices.
Honourable Guests,
12. In conclusion, I would like to once again thank the organisers for their invite. I would also like to commend the Organising Chairman JCI Member Stewart Lee and his committee for their sheer dedication and tireless efforts in making this event a success. Personally, I’m really encouraged to see an NGO promoting creativity in such a wonderful manner. Let’s all continue to support one another in the spirit of 1Malaysia as we build up our businesses and continue the march towards achieving Vision 2020.
13. To the Muslims members, Selamat Berpuasa and Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri.
14. With that, I take my leave and hope to see you again soon.
Thank you |
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