Welcoming Remarks for Tun Dr Mahathir Visits

Bismillhirahmanirrahim,

·         Yang Amat Berbahagia, our honorary guests, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Tun Dr Siti Hasmah

·         Tuan Yang Terutama Datuk Othman Hashim, Malaysia Ambassador To United States, and berbahagia Datin

·        Tuan Syed Bakri, Consul General,

·         Your Excellencies,

·         Distinguished Guests,

·         Members of the Media

·         And my fellow friends

Ladies and Gentleman,

Assalamualaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh, Good Morning and Salam 1 Malaysia

·         First and foremost, I would like to welcome Yang Amat Berbahagia Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Tun Dr Siti Hasmah, to New York City, or as they say it, “The City That Never Sleeps”.

·         Let me also extend my appreciation to all the distinguished guests for taking their precious time off to be here today. It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you.

First and foremost, let us celebrate the reason we are here today. We are here today, to celebrate and commemorate the achievement of our very own home grown leader, who has done so much for our beloved Malaysia. I don’t think there is one other person, who is more deserving, to receive the 2012 Rafik Hariri UN-Habitat Memorial Award.

For that, I am truly honored to be able to speak on behalf of all the Malaysian students in the U.S. and tell the man of the hour, himself, that we are proud of you and will forever be grateful for all the things that you have done for our nation. You, sir, turned Malaysia into a role model for other developing countries to strive hard and grow in the umpteenth speed.

Allow me to share a story. My economics professor, Professor Richard Anderson, called me “Mahathir Guy”. He called me with that name because during his first class, I told him that I came from Malaysia. He eagerly asked me, “Do you know Mahathir?” --I proudly answered his question “Yes! I know him! He is our former Prime Minister”. Ever since that day, my professor never called me by my birth name and I was always known as “Mahathir Guy”. This is to show that the impact of Tun Mahathir’s legacy does not limit to just Malaysians. His influence goes far and beyond, as far as the United States of America.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Tun Dr M has shown the world that hard work and dedication really do pay off in life. He has done nothing but motivate and aspire all of us to do our best in everything that we do. Many of us have achieved great awards in school. Some of us have even been offered by many great companies to work for them here in the U.S. However, most of us would politely turn those offers down because just like Tun Mahathir, we, too, have our very own mission in life to help our beloved country grow.

Some of us even have had an early start and already en route to achieve this mission of ours. We work very hard, day and night, to tell the world the great things about Malaysia. Of course, our job has been made easy ever since Tun made the world recognize the presence of Malaysia on the world map. Nowadays, it is very rare for Americans to not know about our country. Again, we would like to thank you for granting us with all these wonderful opportunities, especially to be able to travel 24 hours just to acquire the best knowledge and give back to our country later.

  

Lastly, I would take a brief moment to voice out my hope for the Malaysian students abroad to continue to excel in their studies and continue the struggle to assist our country to establish itself as one of the best in the eyes of the world. Sure, Tun M has done most of the work, but I personally believe that we can’t solely count on our leader while we enjoy the ride. If we unite and work hand-in-hand together, I am pretty sure it would speed up the success rate and before you know it, Malaysia will be the next big economic giant of the world.

Before I hand back this mic over to the MC, I would like to share with all of you a quote by a very powerful and respectful man, Tun Dr Mahathir. And I quote, “Mahasiswa yang hanya memiliki pengetahuan tinggi tanpa nilai peribadi murni, tidak mampu memacu pembangunan negara bagi mencapai sasaran negara maju”—I hope that’ll put some thoughts in perspective in all of us, especially the students of Malaysia here in the U.S.

Lastly,

Please grab this chance to meet him, and thank to him for what he has done for all of us. This could be your only golden ticket to meet one of the most respectful men in the world.

THANK YOU SO MUCH, Father of Modernization. You have done us proud, once again!

By :

Muhammad Afiq Hassan

Chairman of United States UMNO Club Liaison Committees 

Co-Chair MEC USA

Photos by : Michael Boon and Khalis Othman