MALAM GRADUAN FEP 2004 “MOKHZANI MEMORIAL MEDAL” SPEECH By YBHG. DATIN AZIZAH MOKHZANI During his lifetime Dato’ Dr. Mokhzani, my husband, received a number of honours, awards and even royal recognition for his efforts and contributions to academia, industry and the society. Since his untimely death, 1 year, 1 month and 21 days ago, we (my children and I) have been receiving phone calls, telegrams, emails, letters and personal visits from friends and colleagues at home and abroad expressing condolences and high regard for him. The organizations and associations he was involved in conducted special events in honour of his memory. Just months before his death the Malaysian Employers Federation honoured him with a special award for being their president for some 20 years or so. After his death MEF published in their Newsletter an extensive resume of his achievements and contributions. Dr. Tarcisius Chin of the Malaysian Institute of Management delivered a heart warming analysis of Mokhzani’s leadership style in the New Straits Time. The London School of Economics Alumni Association which he founded, held a special dinner and created a special plague to remember him. Soon, I am told the Alumni will fund the publication of Mokhzani’s thesis on Credit in a Malay Peasant Economy. And today after months of preparations the PEM in conjunction with the FEP honours Mokhzani, by yet another endearing and everlasting gesture by conferring the Mokhzani Memorial Medal to a deserving recipient. Words fail me when I want to express just how deeply gratified and intensely proud we feel at all these extremely laudable gestures. We are even more touched by the establishment of the Mokhzani Memorial Medal because not only do you etch Mokhzani’s name in perpetuity but with it you recognize another individual, year after year and open doors and opportunities to deserving persons just as Mokhzani had done many a time in his lifetime. No other honour can be more flattering, more befitting more laudable and thereby more prized & appreciated than an honour such as this. My children and I thank the PEM and FEP eternally from the depth of our hearts. I wish I could name each individual who made this project and tonight’s event possible. I hesitate to do so in case unwittingly I leave some names out. But I would be remiss in my duty if I did not mention YBhg. Tan Sri Dato’ Dr. Lin See Yan for the initiative he took to establish this award as well as for his leadership and huge effort in lobbying for the funds to ensure that the award can be conferred annually. I believe Dato’ Siew Nim Chee was the first one to donate RM10,000/= to start off the Foundation. And of course I must mention Mrs. Khoo Siew Mun, a dear friend of the family’s for keeping the fire burning in making this award come to fruition. These 3 figures are necessarily supported by a group of exceptionally dedicated individuals who must have spent countless hours and effort in getting the whole thing together. Thank you to each one of you. Many of you in this hall tonight had the opportunity to know and/or to work with Dato’ Dr. Mokhzani. For the others, especially the graduands of today who did not have this opportunity, I would like to take this occasion, if I may, to share with you some glimpses of Dato’ Dr. Mokhzani – the person – lest he remains a mere personality of yester year only. Just before I put together this speech tonight, I asked my son, Firhat Yuri, what does he remember most of his father, a year plus after hid departure. Without so much as a hesitation Firhat said, “Dadda loved to talk and tell stories. He could talk on anything and he could talk on and on. Then, Dadda was always helping someone or other – a friend, a family member from anywhere – from here or as far away as Perlis, Terengganu or even overseas.” Well, Mokhzani inherited his love for story telling from his late father who was a Penghulu who had served in every Mukim in Perlis. It was no wonder he had stories to tell as he was in touch with the day to day activities and happenings of the people in his Mukim. In the case of Mokhzani, he obtained his store of stories, information and opinions from newspapers, magazines and the network of people he met from academia, the business and corporation circle, political links and the many associations he espoused as well as from the vast and diverse group of old and lasting friends. He would read at least 4 newspapers before breakfast and more than a dozen magazines a month. Don’t thing that these magazines are just the likes of Harvard Business Review, The Economist, or the Far Eastern Economic Review. He also subscribed to a Cigar Magazine, a number of Car Magazines, Yatching Magazines and even the National Geographic and the humble Readers’ Digest. I guess what I am trying to impart here to our fresh graduands, is that, Mokhzani believed in learning/education as a life long pursuit and that learning and knowledge acquisition does but stop with the getting of the degree. In order to remain current and to be dynamic and interesting person you need to read and read a lot. The fact that Mokhzani gave help readily is often mentioned. The manner in which he offered his assistance is: a) By opening doors and opportunities to people who are in need. b) By freely supporting and promoting the people who come to him to get help in their job and scholarship applications or even to be a guarantor to a bank loan or to some application or other. c) By providing small and large financial assistance. Some times he was teased for acting like a non-accredited bank giving unsecured loans. To these remarks he would say, “he needs the money. It has taken him a lot of courage to come to me. He wouldn’t have come to me if he had other alternatives.” Mokhzani would even take out large sums from his overdraft account to give those loans. “Always remember, if your help and effort can make a difference in someone’s life, you should see it through.” He would tell the children. Way back in the late 1960s, with the salary of a mere lecturer at UM, Mokhzani lent some RM10,000/= to out local grocer who was struggling a Chinese man. His friends used to tease Mokhzani, “Mok, you must be the first case of a Malay lending money to a Chinese!” Talking about Chinese and Malay relationships in the 60s, 70s, it was not as easy as it is today. In fact certain quarters accused Mokhzani of promoting Chinese and not Malays in the faculty. But the truth of the matter is in that period there were very few Malays in the FEP. Those who could be promoted had been promoted. So, Mokhzani promoted those left behind who deserved to be promoted and that meant the non Malays. It didn’t sit well with him to impede the progress of those who were deserving. So, I guess, dear graduands, when you attain a position to be able to make a difference in someone’s life let it be for the better and have the strength to resist to do otherwise. What is not often remembered or not highlighted is the fact that Mokhzani struck his neck out to promote the cause of Bahasa Malaysia in the faculty. Against criticisms and resistance from some quarters he established Bahasa Malaysia courses for the faculty members who at that time could hardly communicate in Bahasa Malaysia. Now, it is taken for granted that faculty members can all teach in Bahasa Malaysia. But in those days, FEP outside the Department of Malay Studies, FEP must have been the first faculty to implement the switch of the medium of instruction from English to Bahasa Malaysia. FEP under Mokhzani was also the first to take in Malay Medium students, example, the Dr. Lajman Haji Siraj, and also the first faculty to admit a blind student, i.e. Dr. Ismail who has now become a much respected figure. I think it was during Mokhzani’s time as Dean too that the first member of the Orong Asli Community was admitted to a university. Many a time the question was asked as to why he left the university when he was regarded as Vice Chancellor in waiting. It was just as well that he left otherwise he would have been in waiting for another 10 or so years because Ungku Aziz did not leave until more than 10 years later. So, the moral is “Go when the going is good.” In the private sector, Mokhzani created waves in a number of instances. Some of the obvious ones are: He was responsible in seeing through the transfer of the Toyota Dealership from Inchcape to United Motor Works; his background in sociology/anthropology and his good reading of the Japanese corporate culture helped him – he stayed for 45 days in Tokyo during the Toyota negotiations and finally brought us, the family to Tokyo for 2 weeks because he could not leave the negotiations and come home even for Raya. In UMW he was also responsible for pushing for the change of the UMW Logo. The old Logo was a Chinese symbol. The current Logo gives it a more universal look. His good friend, the departed Philip Khoo used to say, “Mokhzani brought wider credibility and prestige to UMW.” When Mokhzani bought over Kentucky Fried Chicken, there were only 8 outlets
in Malaysia. When he sold it, there were more than 100. Unofficially he was
regarded as the Franchise Corporate Leader and Expert of Malaysia – “talk
to Mokhzani if you want to go into franchising!”, they used to say. On the family scene, being the eldest in the family he displayed the deepest respect for his parents not only because he loved and revered both of them but he was conscious that he should give the right example to his other 8 siblings. After the death of his father, he became the head of the parental family and he made sure that family traditions and values were maintained and propagated. His father used to say, “However high you go, don’t be so arrogant as to refuse to do the lowly tasks yourself. For example, if you are used to holding a cangkul and should you fall from your height and need to start again from lowly beginnings, then you can go back to the cangkul without feeling self-conscious.” For his own immediate family he had few rules and regulations. His constant message to his children was “Whatever you choose to do, be the best in it.” When the children were growing up and living in UK to study they went through life’s experiences and challenges of their own. As an over concerned, overprotective Malaysian mother I used to tell Mokhzani to put a check on their activities and discipline them. Mokhzani would just say. “Well, they are intelligent children and we have given them a good education. Let them be. All we need to do is give them time and space.” I thank God I listened to him otherwise I might have added to the children’s problems. I am not trying to paint Mokhzani as a saint. Of course he had his weaknesses. But as the weeks and months passed by after his death, his faults seem to melt away and I seem to forget them one by one. To our fresh graduands I hope, from these sketchy glimpse of Mokhzani’s life you can draw some inspiration and lessons. Last but not least, I would like to record my heartiest congratulations to Mrs. Ramna Veni a/p Petchimuthu, the first recipient of the Mokhzani Memorial Medal. You deserve it! When you look at the Medal, please keep this thought in mind: that this medal is awarded in the name of a loyal friend by a group of dear and discerning friends from the PEM and FEP. Let us hope that friendship and loyalty will still survive in this digital age. I wish to thank the organizers again for according me this opportunity to show you the person behind the persona. I hope you will remember Mokhzani as not just the successful public figure but also as the beautiful human being that he was. Thank you.
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