Dr M: Hard work, knowledge, trustworthiness keys to success

SHAH ALAM (Bernama): Hard work, knowledge and trustworthiness are the three values that will lead to success, says Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

“The first life value is hard work. If you are smart but you don’t read, you won’t succeed. But if you are not so smart but you work hard to pursue knowledge, InsyaAllah, you will succeed,” he said.

“That is why if we want to be a successful nation, our people must have these two life values – hard work and good knowledge of our (chosen) fields. Expertise comes from hard work in pursuit of knowledge.

“That is all we ask of the young generation.”

He said university students, especially student leaders, must nurture these values to successfully improve themselves and the country.

The Prime Minister said this in his keynote address entitled “Malaysian Resurrection as the Asian Tiger” at the Rise of the Asian Tiger convention at Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) here on Monday (April 1) night.

Also present were his wife Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Mohamad Ali, Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, Economic Affairs Minister Mohamed Azmin Ali, Entrepreneur Development Minister Mohd Redzuan Md Yusof, Johor Mentri Besar Osman Sapian and UiTM vice-chancellor Prof Dr Mohd Azraai Kassim.

Dr Mahathir also launched the Asian Tiger Initiative at the one-day convention supported by the Youth and Sports Ministry.

The Prime Minister next drew attention to the third value of trustworthiness, especially in relation to honouring one’s debts.

“In our country, there is the thinking that debt need not be repaid. When we hold such a view, we will experience many catastrophes… not just for us but our race, our nation. When someone stingy doesn’t repay his debt, he won’t be able borrow from anywhere because he is the type who doesn’t repay his debt.

“That’s why we must be trustworthy and repay what we owe. If we borrow from banks we have to pay back. We hear stories of PTPTN borrowers who have money but do not want to repay their debt because they are not ashamed. If we know shame, we will work hard to pay our debts first before we spend the money on ourselves. Such people will not face any difficulties in life.

“If a person never settles his debts, is too lazy to repay his debts, then he will fail. Even if you have knowledge and are hardworking, you will fail if you do not pay your debts.

“I believe that if we practice these three life values (hard work, knowledge and trustworthiness) our race and nation will be successful and we will become a developed country,” he said.

Dr Mahathir stated again his admiration for the Japanese people whose sense of honour and industry should be an example to Malaysians.

He said the Japanese people had a very strong sense of shame if they failed to perform a task.

“Their sense of shame is very strong, the effect on their lives is that they will avoid the embarrassment of being a failure. That is why when the Westerners succeed in one area, they (the Japanese) will go into the same field and work to master the language, skills and capabilities until they succeed in being better than the Westerners.

“I believe Malays, in particular, can be successful like the Westerners but they have to hold on to good life values. We have to re-evaluate ourselves, our life values and our weaknesses…if we can accept our faults and improve ourselves, then we can succeed.”

Source : TheStar