Education is a lifetime job, says Dr Mahathir
SERDANG: Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad urges the public to never stop learning as education is a lifelong process.
The 93-year-old prime minister said if Malaysia wanted progress and to be recognised as a fully developed country, the people must be educated.
He said today’s education was not only about learning history or literature, but more about learning new sciences that were revolutionising the world.
“Even businesses have embraced new technologies. Therefore, it is important for the Malaysian youth to be trained.
“So, please do not stop learning. Education is a lifetime job because what I knew when I graduated in 1954 is no longer relevant today.
“We always want to move forward, and to move forward, we need to develop new knowledge,” he said at Perdana University’s third convocation here yesterday.
The prime minister also urged young people to be aware of current events in the country, including politics.
“It is not necessary for you to be totally involved in politics, but you should know what is happening and, at the very least, vote during the election.”
At the convocation, Dr Mahathir, who is the founding chancellor of Perdana University, was conferred an honorary doctor of philosophy in global peace and national reconciliation.
His wife, Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali, was conferred an honorary doctor of philosophy in women and community development.
This is the first time that Perdana University is conferring the honorary degrees, which are the highest awards to be given out by the university.
This year, 82 graduates received their undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in medicine, occupational therapy and bioinformatics, while 26 others received Foundation in Science certificates.