Tributes go to my teachers who strive very hard to take me to where I am today. As we celebrate Teachers Day today we do not forget the contributions teachers made to the progress of  a nation as well as to our own achievement as individuals.

When I first started to go school (it was just a year after Malaya achieved its Independence),  situations then were obviously far different from the present time. Even during the sixties when I was in secondary school and later in the seventies, when I went to the university, situations were very different from what it is today. Everything was marked by inadequacies and shortcomings, from classrooms to textbooks, and from library and to all other facilities. But it was the teachers' drive, strong will, and their commitment to teach and to educate their students that have made what most of us are today - some are now holding responsible positions and in leadership role in respective fields or professions. Yes, it is both the patience and the passion in the teachers that have brought about these changes in our social landscape.

Today after having served the Malaysian government for thirty one years, both at home and abroad, and retired from the job, there is somewhat a call of duty for me to contribute in a small way to the field of education. I actually wanted to pursue my career in teaching when I was still in school, but situations did not seem to favor me to join the academic world because the pull of the excitements in the field was far greater than teaching. Looking back, however, I have no regret as the experience I had acquired over the years in the field of public relations, communication and public diplomacy are indeed very useful because I am now able to relate convincingly to the real happenings in my lectures and presentations that I give my students today.

It has been almost two years at IIUM now and I enjoy myself being a teacher or a lecturer. Before assuming full-time teaching at IIUM,  I have had the opportunity to teach at the National Institute of Public Administration, the IKRAM Training and Infrastructural Development Institute, and UiTM and all these experiences in teaching and training gave me the added confidence.

Amidst the new setting, particularly the knowledge environment (the garden of knowledge and virtues) teaching young people give me renewed energy and a vision to pursue. I admit, this is a paying-back time where I should share and contribute my knowledge and experience to the new generation who will soon replace the old generation which is slowly fading away. The present younger set of graduates needs guidance and mentoring to enable them to go out into the real world and to survive the new challenges that are abound. They need all the motivation and the inspiration to move on. If what I have learned from my teachers have helped me to be where I am today,  it is definitely my hope to see my students benefit from my teaching today in the years ahead!!!