polimas tpsa farew limas tpsa farewell address well address

POLIMAS TPSA FAREWELL ADDRESS
15 MARCH 2011 – 8.00 am
Assalamualaikum… Good Morning… Salam 1Malaysia (People First, Performance Now).
Respected Deputy Director (Academic), En. Mohd Zain b. Mamat,
Respected Head of Departments, Head of Units,
Learned Lecturers, Ladies and gentlement.
Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds, the All
All-Merciful,
Merciful, All-Compassionate.
All
I bear witness that there is no true God but He. I bear wi
witness
tness that Muhammad is the Messenger
Messe
of Allah
(Peace and Blessings be upon him), his family and Companions, and upon those who believe in his
guidance until the Day of Judgement.
Ladies and gentlemen,
First and foremost,
st, allow me to recap a short
history about myself. I joined POLIMAS in January 1994,
after 9 long years at POLISAS in Kuantan. I continued to
serve Commerce Department here. In 1999, I was
reassigned to head Mathematics, Science and Computer
Department. Itt was very much later that IT program
was moved from Electrical to Mathematics
Mathematic Department.
Later on,, a new department, ICT was setup to take care
of IT programs.
It was towards the middle of 2009 when a large scale promotion exercise was carried out. I was
attending a meeting at PUO when the office called to inform that I have been transferred to PBU as
Deputy Director. On 1st July 2009,, I reported for duty in Penang. I thought I was never to come back to
POLIMAS. But God reigned supreme. At the end of 2009, a call came through, I was transferred back to
POLIMAS, effective 1st January 2010.. So
So, I returned to POLIMAS as Deputy Director (Academic Support).
On 28th February 2011,, I attended a course on Etiquette and Values conducted by INTURA. At about
4.30pm, En. Mohd Zain called to inform
inform, a fax just came in, that both of us were transferred, effective
st
the next day, 1 March
h 2011. I’ve been relocated as H
Head
ead of ICT Department at PTSS, Arau. […the
morale of the story is; you may be transferred out if you are not in the office…].
office
So, the next
day, I went to report for duty and was granted 2 weeks extension. It was Moh
ohd Zain and I own
conscious choice to stay back so as to see that our POLIMAS runs as usual. Today
oday 15th March is my last
day here. Being a government servant, iit is always S.Y.M.P. Do I look like I was going anywhere? If you
are expecting me to cry or shed tears
tears, I am afraid that I have to let you down. Will I return here? Well,
your guess is as good as mine. But, as Arnold Schwarzenegger once said and I quote; “I’ll be back”.
[…and if you believe that, you will believe whatever I will say this morning…]
Ladies and gentlemen,
Perhaps, today I should share with everyone some experiences and observations for your learned
consideration. All in all I have served under 13 polytechnic directors, in the span of 26 years. Each of the
directors has his own trait, style, habit, approach and concern. Each of them has his kind of idiosyncrasy
which at times could drive you up the wall. Some suited you so wel
welll that you wish he would remain
forever. A few left great legacy and fondly remembered.
For slightly more than
han a year, I tried my best to play the
role as Deputy Director (Academic Support). Under my charges
are; Administration, Students Affairs, Continuing Education,
Maintenance, Hostel, Library, Sports/Co-curriculum,
Sports/Co
Public
Relations, ICT, Multimedia and Psychology
hology. Each one of these
heads has shown great commitment and deserves
deserve a pat on the
back. Every day is a busy day. I truly enjoy working here and
every morning I would look forward to come to work. I think,
you would notice that I’ll be among the early ones to arrive and
the last one to leave office. I would be around for whatever
activities during weekends, day or night. I have tried to accommodate everyone’s wish and I bear no
grudge against anyone, even though some are very unreasonable. My late fatherr reminded me to serve
with no fear or favour, for we have taken the oath of public servants. I truly believe that all of you here
have contributed so much,, sometimes much, much beyond the call of duty. Thank you and
congratulations. God will surely reward you.
Ladies and gentlemen,
One of the most fundamental pre
pre-condition
condition to succeed is discipline. None of
the world great civ
civilisation existed without it. For the whole of 2010, we were very
much concerned about attendance. We wanted to drive home the point that coming
late for work and short
short-changing
changing working hours are considered cardinal sins. Thank
God, we have nearly overcome the perennial issue without actually taking any
disciplinary action. Once the norm is established, the culture will follow. Finally, the
culture and the norm will become part of us.
In the last few months, Md Zain and I worked overdrive. My observation is, everyone
e
has played
his/her own role well. Each and every one of us here belong
belongs to Our Team and not My Team, A Team or
B Team or the X Team. […as wise man says, to do a big and meaningful job, it is very seldom
accomplished by a single man, no matter how great he is, it is always a teamwork]. For
example, the drivers and the Heads of Departments are equally important in the
their
ir own rights. Do you still
remember the slogan in 2008? Betulkan yang Biasa, Biasakan yang Betul. Indeed, it is our duty to
correct the wrongs, and to always practise the rights. Any other way will not contribute towards our
intention to seek and maintain the pole position. And I believe everyone here share the same common
objective, that is to contribute and earn an honest living. There is no point for us to only gain the world
but losing our soul.
Ladies and gentlemen,
POLIMAS has celebrated her Silver Jubilee in 2009. That means we have been matured. People are
looking up to us for leaderships, people are counting on us to deliver the substance rather than the
slogan and rhetoric, people are watching our moves, people a
are
re making up their perception about us and
people will judge us accordingly. Indeed, it is a heavy responsibility. But, I have every confident in every
one of you here to keep our flag flying high.
Another issue that is close to my heart here is English. Even though on paper we should have
settled this by 2008 but it is not in any way resolved. Should we had taken serious effort in the last 3
years, we could have improved leaps and bounce. The main obstacle to our problem is our own failure to
create a conducive
nducive environment for the language to thrive. If the situation persist
persistss, nothing will change
in the next 300 years. However, lately I noticed some positive development among some academic staff.
They are attending English tuition session, forming group m
members
embers to polish both written and spoken
English. Congratulations. If you persevere
persevere, soon you will reap the results. [Someone said, the best
time to plant a tree is 10 years ago but the second best time is NOW]. I hope the new
Management Group will implement
nt more affirmative action toward the cause.
Ladies and gentlemen,
At the beginning of 2011,, while working on the small plot of land behind my house, I came up
with My New Year Resolutions. Today, I would like to share my 10 wishes with you, namely: 1. To serve
with delight & to inspire passion; 2. To connect & to be people-person; 3. To abide by rules &
regulations; 4. To address abuses & to cap leaks; 5. To check complacency & procrastination; 6. To
encourage winning mindset
set & to build trust; 7. To reward the deserves & to persuade the uninitiated; 8.
To learn to say NO, sometimes. 9. To inculcate the spirit of 5S, SRS, 12P, etc. 10. To enjoy work, to
apply wisdom & to cherish life. I hope the kind of spirit mentioned will thrive in POLIMAS.
I have already taken much of your time. Thank you for your attention.. I seek your forgiveness for
whatever shortcomings during my tenure here. I wish you all the best in whatever you will be
undertaking. Please take care of your he
health [because health is wealth], take
ke care of your family
members.. From God we came, to God we shall return. With th
those words, I beg to end my speech. Good
bye, God bless and Thank you.