KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 30 – Former prime minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was conferred the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Honoris Causa from Soka University in Tokyo, today.
In his acceptance speech, the text of which was made available to Bernama, Abdullah expressed his gratitude to the President of Soka Gakai International Dr Daisaku Ikeda for the honour.
“It was my cherished ambition as a student in school as well as a student in university that I serve my country. When I graduated I had no hesitation in enrolling in the government’s administrative and diplomatic service.
“When I matured as a civil servant as well as later when I embarked upon my political career, I was determined to contribute, in whatever modest way I could, to the betterment of not only the people of my country, but also to humanity at large,” he said.
He said in his various capacities as minister and also prime minister, he was able to help enrich and develop young minds, strengthen Malaysia’s capacity to defend itself and play a role in forging peace and stability in the region and around the world.
“If there is anything I am most grateful for, it is that I was able to further widen the democratic space in my country, improve its system of governance and delivery, and spark the modernisation and development of the rural economy through the development corridors that I introduced,” he added.
Besides his blood ties with people from Japan, he said Malaysian people always admired the achievements of the Japanese particularly on how they managed to transform their country from the ashes of war to become the second largest economy of the world in a relatively short period of time.
“To emulate Japan, the Look East Policy was introduced. Our bilateral relations has expanded and deepened. Japan became Malaysia’s top trading partner after neighbour Singapore. Japan was also among the top five investors in Malaysia in the last decade,” he said.
Abdullah also mentioned that the Malaysian government had given a lot of emphasis on developing and distinguishing itself through its well-defined and advanced human capital development infrastructure.
“History has clearly shown that countries which invest heavily in education have progressed well ahead of those that do not,” he added.
He noted that during his administration, he also introduced Islam Hadhari or civilsational Islam which he hoped would provide a blueprint and establish a balance in the pursuit of progress and enlightment. – Bernama
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