English World

No shortcut to success, youths told

KUALA LUMPUR: There is no shortcut to success and one has to strive hard to savour the fruits of his labour.

Rear-Admiral (rtd) Tan Sri K. Thanabalasingam called on the country’s youths to put in greater effort by themselves for a rewarding career, and not be too dependant for assistance from others.

“Whatever field or career one embarked, one should work hard, diligently, conscientiously and give his best at all times.

“Remember that learning does not end after school. Learning is a ‘lifelong learning’ process. To be successful, you must have the desire and the will to succeed,” said the country’s first local Royal Malaysian Navy chief.

Thanabalasingam, who also briefly served as Armed Forces chief at one time, urged youths to constantly review their position, stay relevant, increase their efforts, keep up with the times and better themselves in order to move forward.

“Living in a plural society is not easy as it requires tolerance, wisdom, vision, courage and love. With a sense of belonging and national solidarity, patriotism will prevail, especially in the universities,” he said.

Thanabalasingam also reminded them that they should be grateful to the services rendered by the armed forces and police in safeguarding the nation’s security.

He called on Malaysians to display the Malaysian spirit of ‘muhibbah’ and not allow irresponsible individuals and opportunists to divide or weaken the people.

“Unity is our greatest strength and the basis of our success, especially in education and economy.

“Malaysians must unite to prosper. We must all work hard to defend Malaysia’s Independence, sovereignty and uphold the Federal Constitution which protects and guarantees the rights and interests of all ethnic groups,” he said.

For his services rendered to the country, especially in the defence and security arena, Thanabalasingam was recently conferred the Honorary Doctorate in Maritime Science and Technology by the National Defence University of Malaysia (NDUM).

NDU pro-chancellor Brig-Gen Tan Sri Tunku Puteri Intan Safinaz Tuanku Abdul Halim Mu’adzam Shah presented him the scroll during the university’s convocation ceremony in Sungai Besi.

Thanabalasingam played an instrumental role when he was recalled for ‘national service’ after 30 years of retirement during the dispute with Singapore regarding Pulau Batu Puteh (PBP), Middle Rocks and South Ledge at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands in 2008.

Thanabalasingam reminisced on his experiences during the trying times of the communist insurgency, the Emergency periods, Confrontation with Indonesia when Malaysia was formed in 1963, the Philippines’ claim over Sabah in 1968 and the ‘May 13’ 1969 racial riots.

He particularly highlighted his career as navy chief during the tenure of the university’s chancellor and current Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Abdul Halim Mu’adzam Shah who was also the king at that time, from 1970 to 1975.

He also shared his experience on how he was recalled to serve the country after 30 years of retirement during the dispute with Singapore regarding Pulau Batu Puteh (PBP), Middle Rocks and South Ledge at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands.

-NST

Komen & Pendapat
Facebook
Twitter

Terbaru


!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+"://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs");