This is the speech I delivered on my MM graduation day:
Distinguished Members of Prasetiya Mulya Foundation.
Beloved and revered Faculty Members.
Our honoured Guest Prof. Charles Adams.
Fellow Graduates and Guests.
Ladies and Gentlemen.
A very good day to all.
I'm honoured to be standing here representing 6 classes: the 29th and 30th class of the Strategic Management Executive program, 11th and 12th class of the Business Management Executive program, and 33rd and 34th class of the Regular Magister in Management program.
First of all, on the behalf of all the graduates today, I would like to praise the Good Lord, God Almighty, for it is part of His plan that we are all here today.
We would also like to extend our utmost gratitude to our families, whose support is inseparable from our success in completing the MM program. Your dedication is beyond measure and we will cherish you always.
To our distinguished faculty members, you have been more than teachers for us. You have selflessly, empowered us day by day, reminded us of the power of dreams, encouraged us to make a difference, and shaped us into matured individuals. For that, we will forever be grateful. Your idealism is our inspiration.
To all of the supporting members, the people we have come to call friends, your kind assistance has made the system worked, and without your presence, our years in Prasetiya Mulya would have been chaos. So thank you very much for all your support.
Again, it is an honour for me to represent the graduates, I am far too young and inexperienced compared to many other graduates today, but please bear with me.
Let us reminisce our days in Prasetiya Mulya. I believe it was not easy for every one of us to complete this MBA program. For the Regular program students, it was about leaving whatever we had before, whether it was a job, or idle time after undergraduate school to discipline ourselves and start being a student again, full time. For the students of the Executive programs, it was even more challenging to juggle your work and career with evening classes. We salute your achievement.
In the program, we were constantly challenged by business cases and group works, which consumed far more energy than personal tasks. We came in with the vision and we managed to succeed. It has never been an easy task to pull through. Today we ought to be proud of ourselves. But far bigger challenges lie ahead and our success today should be a reminder of what we can achieve through hard work and commitment.
As I was preparing this speech, I was browsing through examples of commencement speeches made by famous individuals, and I found that all of them have one single message, which is: “to make a difference”. The world has reached its condition today not only thanks to the great inventors and leaders, but also due to the accumulation of greed and self-indulgence. The on-going global economy turbulence and the climate crisis are the impact of the dark side of human race. It might have been fair to say that the world places high hope on us, the new graduates, to make this world a better place.
So as we leave this place, let us not forget the values that have created the environment that we all love. The integrity, high ethical standards, work ethics, openness, determination, creativity, and mutual respect and support to other people, warmth, friendliness and humour. Now that we are graduated, there is no better opportunity for us to inject these values in our daily lives. We bear the name of Prasetiya Mulya on our shoulders, so let us help preserve the high moral standard that this name resonances so that the next generations can have the same pleasure as we have today.
Personally, having gone to Prasetiya Mulya is a fabulous experience that I will never forget. It has been more than a school; it has been a family to me. It has helped me to recognize my full potential and opened doors for my future endeavours.
There are so many things that I learned, one of them is to take things seriously.
For example, you can never imagine the amount of preparations for our presentation at the 2008 Global Social Venture Competition. But of course, it paid off.
This speech is no exception. The preparations have involved our beloved faculty members as well. So I hope it can also be a hit. (-->this is supposed to be the joke)
So by that, let me conclude my speech. The road ahead is not without pebbles and it is those pebbles that will teach us the wisdom that might be more important than the knowledge that we have learnt. So let us have no fear and let us believe that we can make a better world. Prasetiya Mulya is all about positivity, so let's spread the optimism and tell ourselves, "Yes We Can". May God bless us always.
Thank you.
