This came out in the Star last Saturday. The timing was perfect, on the previous Thursday, our next PM launched 2 key PROMUDA events - Project Tekad and the Careers X-Pose TV series.
A lot has been read into the article, about what the organisation stands for, and what the profile of the individuals behind the organisation may have been interpreted by different people. Those outside the organisation have mentioned to me about their assumptions after reading the article - some can't differentiate PROMUDA from a similar sounding political organisation, others can't appreciate how 'different' it is from other elite Bumiputra boys clubs.
Whatever the shortfalls of the organisation is, it is a remarkable feat. Having seen the commitment of its members, I would say that it has made a mark on society that may not have been apparent from a brief read - hence this post.
First of all, PROMUDA is as 'muhibbah' as you can get. Membership is open to degree holders below the age of 35. Going to a PROMUDA event is very non-intimidating - it's not dominated by any one race or group, everyone is there to meet new people, everyone is there to get involved. No surprise - the organisation's tagline is appropriate: Excellence through Involvement.
There is great care to not steer any activities too obviously in any political direction, or in favour of any major group (although some may argue that the perfect balance has not yet been found). But, if you can't please everyone all the time, all you can do is try not to displease too many people.
Its obsession to not displease does not mean that PROMUDA does not have a backbone. Its members are obviously passionate about what they stand for, from national education policies, to giving something back to society. Activities like the Careers Roadshow see members showing up on Saturday mornings (when others are dozing) visiting campuses to share their experiences with university students - not unlike other mentoring programmes.
Members lend their 'professional' consultancy to community-driven initiatives, the MMU Technopreneurs Conference as one example. There are various groups working on everything from charity programmes to compiling recommendations on issues of national interest.
There's a lot of activities that extend the horizons of the young professionals beyond their careers. Two of my favourite activities are the Leading Minds series lectures, which extends our view of all things Malaysian, and the Embassy Series talks, which provides us a view of where Malaysia's place is in the world.
The Leading Minds series lectures gather key players in various aspects of Malaysian society, from gender issues to human rights, in one room to discuss and debate topics that matter to the nation. The twist in these lectures is that the speakers chosen usually cuts across various viewpoints of the same topic, resulting in lively but mature discussion.
Through these sessions, I have learned that almost anything (I say almost because I didn't go to all the sessions, and there are many more areas that can be covered) can be discussed in an open manner. These sessions also act as a good mechanism for continuous learning - a concept that Malaysians in general have yet to embrace.
There are heaps of things that PROMUDA does, like the social series, to Prodigy, to those nice dinners in hotels, to ... well, if you really want to know, go to www.promuda.com and find out. Or you can engage the members by joining the Yahoo! Group or by reading their official mouthpiece, PRODIGY.
But what PROMUDA gave me that I consider as invaluable is the opportunity to make friends from all walks of life. I haven't been able to spend as much time and energy on 'being involved' as I used to, but rest assured, I do miss our little adventures!
My only disclaimer here is that I'm not a spokesperson (sorry PR team...), but I just wanted to share my personal views on the organisation.
Posted by Najah Nasseri at 2003年10月31日 00:08 | TrackBack