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CERITA KEDAIKOPI-#45
01-04-2000
"Knowledge is very important.Go and get it!".Said a restaurant owner to my son Maher while we were having brunch at Hardy Restaurant in Seremban two weeks go.No restaurant owners ever talked to me about knowledge before.Well,this one restaurant owner is quite special. He told us that he got his first degree at the age of 40,stayed in US for 7 years and came home with an MBA in marketing.Currently, other than owning and managing Hardy restaurant,he also helps his sister to manage Hotel Malaysia in Seremban. Thank you Kapt(B) Hadi for telling your experience in the pursuit of knowledge to my son and me.
Well,what is so great about
that?Everyone knows the importance of knowledge.It is a cliche' -nothing
new?
I think it all depends on
who said that.If I were to say that to my son,it does not carry as much
weight compared to a third person like Kapt(B) Hadi who acquired knowledge
through the hard way.With the business knowledge,he ventured into business.May
I quote Confucius:"The essence of knowledge is not having it,but to use
and apply it".It is sad that a few of us who have knowledge but do not
know or dare not use it to our advantage.Likewise,it is also just like
someone who is literate but does not read.I really envy his attitude to
empower himself with knowledge that he was not given similar opportunity
like some of us (me included) who got our degree straight at the age of
24.Attitude like this makes a difference to success and failure in life.How
I wish more Malaysians are like him....
Recently,KL hosted the GK2-Global Knowledge 11.It emphasises the usage of Imformation and Communication Technology for global knowledge partnership.Please visit the website;it contains a few useful information and reports.However,the choice of its venue(Mandarin Hotel) and its exhibition hall (Shangrila Hotel) were out of reach by most Malaysians like me.I don't think it is a good choice when the objectives of the conference are bout access, empowerment and governance!
The mission and objectives
of the Global Knowledge Partnerships are very novel indeed.I really appreciate
what they want to achieve.But it will take some time
(a few years) before we Malaysians
can benefit from their activities worldwide.From my experience observing
international organisation programmes,I think we have got to do things
for ourselves using their agenda/ programmes as a guide.By the time the
world agreed to do anything,we will be left behind.In fact,by thinking
global and act local,we are still behind time as far as adopting and embracing
e-commerce compared to our neighbour, Singapore.MDC,please wake up;the
neighbour is not even taking a nap!
Knowledge,by nature is global,but access to knowledge is not yet.Empowerment is another story.Some of the knowledge are proprietry and even patented.Do you believe that the people in the the first world would share their knowledge to empower us in the third world?I would be a fool to believe that.Just look at the technology to make engine for Proton cars!We are still using Mitsubishi engines for the past ten years!
Having the tallest building in the world and the best/biggest airport in Asia would not make us the world class nation in the next decade.I think we should emulate Japan tactics to acquire industrial technology and Singapore strategy to embrace digital economy.