KUALA LUMPUR, March 27 ― Former prime minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was today conferred with the Father of Malaysia’s Human Capital Development Special Lifetime Achievement Award by the Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute (ASLI).
ASLI chief executive officer Tan Sri Dr Michael Yeoh said the award was to recognise and honour Abdullah, or more affectionately known as ‘Pak Lah’ for his contributions and commitment in developing human capital during his tenure as prime minister, and before that, as education minister.
Citing the Human Capital Report 2017 by the World Economic Forum, Yeoh said Malaysia’s human capital development ranked second in Southeast Asia and 33rd in the world, adding that human capital development had always been the key thrust during Abdullah’s tenure as prime minister and even earlier, when he served as education minister.
“This development in human capital will march Malaysia towards Transformasi Nasional 2050 (TN50),” he said at the third edition of the Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi Human Capital Summit Series themed, ‘Winning in the Age of Disruption: Productivity and Adaptability’ here.
Abdullah and wife, Tun Jeanne Abdullah were among those present at the event, which included Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin and High School Bukit Mertajam Alumni President Datuk S. Kulasegaran.
Meanwhile, Khairy said Abdullah, during his tenure as prime minister had spent a lot of effort on the development of private universities and colleges, upgrading of schools as well as teachers training institutions because he believed that moulding the younger generation with skills, training and values would enable them to win in the increasingly competitive landscape.
“For Pak Lah, human capital is not about a form of teaching. He demonstrated that human capital is also about values, faith, integrity, institutions and equity. He strongly believed (that) without values, modern infrastructure or first class infrastructure would remain hollow.
“His faith in Islam gave foundation to these values. He tried to explain it in a universal way through expressing Islam Hadhari. No single individual can continue forever and everything must be institutionalised for future generation,” he said.
Khairy said Pak Lah often reminded him that he wanted all Malaysians, especially the youth in every region to enjoy access to quality education, adding that that’s why Pak Lah started development of the corridors from south, north, east coast, Sabah and Sarawak as he believed concentration of development in the urban centre, especially in the Klang Valley, would not be fair.
The Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi Human Capital Summit series is aimed at appreciating the fifth prime minister for his concern on education, human capital and the nation’s soft infrastructure.
It is also aimed at helping organisations and the people adapt and increase their productivity by focusing on the fourth Industrial Revolution, the Age of Disruptive Change and TN50. ― Bernama
