Mar 30th 2008 08:27 am Tony Fernandes
“You don’t need political connections”, says Tony Fernandes.
“This is the problem with Malaysians”, he says, “we sit around and think ‘Oh, it can’t be done.’”
The self-made man related his experience setting up a fledgling business in an industry long dominated by the national airline, MAS. Tony stressed the importance of being willing to go out there and take risks, warning that most Malaysians are often reluctant to take chances, which he spoke of as imperative to the entrepreneur. Audience members quizzed him on the difficulty of starting up a new firm in Malaysia, and opportunities for Indians to break into the corporate world, prompting Tony to remark that this seemed to be a rather “political conference”. In response, Tony emphasised that educational opportunities are the necessary factor for economic progress, and that relative to other countries, our airline industry is still more open. Closing his speech, Tony chuckled that thanks to the Malaysia Forum, he now has “another feather in [his] cap” — using modern, low-cost technology to speak at a conference thousands of miles away.
Posted by johnleemk / NMF 2008