(This is reproduced from the posting I made on my Facebook Page on 16th March 2025.)

Back in the early days of my corporate life, I was the recipient of quite a number of business awards. I’ve lost track of all of them, and probably could have misplaced some of the inscribed trophies and crystals. I do recall being nominated as the finalist in the Ernst and Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2008 (pic), and it came as a surprise to me as I was still considered a novice in the corporate game then.

EY is a very credible organization and some big corporate names were among those nominated. Another milestone which I shall cherish was when SEGi won the KLSE Corporate Excellence Award in 2003 given by Bursa Malaysia, which was significant when we think of the many listed companies we were up against. And I had taken charge of the listed education group as its Group CEO for only slightly more than 2 years.

I also am thankful for the recognition accorded me with the 3 honorary doctorates (in law, business & management) given by government-funded Australian and UK universities. I consider the 7 or 8 honorific titles awarded by the federal and state governments through the Agong, sultans and TYTs a great privilege as well. Those were the days when I would be dressed to the nines, complete with suit, tuxedo or ceremonial attire to go to the award ceremonies.

In recent years, however, a few of my business acquaintances and I have declined awards of all types and categories. We have come to the point where we think our recognition should come from the result of the work we have done, instead of endorsement from some awarding bodies. When the outcome of your work does the talking, it tells a story no applause or award ever could.