Page 204 - VC Message

Leading with Purpose
Messages of the Vice Chancellor SELECTED SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES

21. Universiti Malaya, through our Centre for Civilisational Dialogue, is proud to be part
of this national and global effort. For 30 years, we have held space for dialogue,
built networks across faiths and philosophies, and trained generations of scholars
in the art of listening and learning. Today, we rededicate ourselves to that mission.
22. To our young people in this hall, I say: the future is yours. Build it with wisdom
and empathy. Be brave enough to reach across boundaries. Use your voices to
heal divisions. The next 30 years must be your legacy of unity, not our legacy of
conflict.
23. We have seen what disunity brings. Two world wars claimed more than 100
million lives. The atomic age reminded us how close we have come to destroying
everything. We cannot go back. The stakes are too high.
24. Let us instead choose a future of peace. A future where the child in Gaza,
the student in Tokyo, the teacher in Nairobi, and the refugee in Europe all see
themselves in one another.
25. Let us declare today that East and West are not rivals, but partners. That
civilisational strength comes from dialogue, not domination. That the best of
humanity is still ahead of us — if we choose it.

Ladies and gentlemen,
26. In commemorating 30 years of civilisational dialogue, we are not just looking
back. We are charting the course ahead.
27. Let Universiti Malaya remain a beacon of thought and conscience. Let Malaysia
lead with moral clarity. Let each of us be ambassadors of dialogue and peace.
28. Together, let us affirm that a better world is not only possible — it is necessary.
196 And it begins with us.

Thank you.
Terima kasih.

Wabillahi taufik walhidayah, wassalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.