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Taken from http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/3/4/nation/17042603&sec=nation
Story and Picture by Joseph Loh, sunday@thestar.com.my
ON meeting Datuk Ghazi Sheikh Ramli, one cannot help but notice his unquenchable thirst for knowledge. Currently the founder and chairman of Akademi Iqra’, a special focus publisher, which also does education, training and consultancy, the former senator has, amongst others, worked as a teacher and even a grocer’s assistant before. Besides that, he has been involved in fields as diverse as information technology, wastewater management and publishing.
Now 64 years old, Ghazi reminisces his early years, which are as colourful as the man himself.
“I was born in Pulau Pisang in Jitra, Kedah but grew up in Alor Star. I was schooled in Sultan Abdul Hamid College, which interestingly was the same school that Tunku Abdul Rahman and Tun Mahathir went to.”
His early schooling years did not distinguish the man, and he admits to not passing his Sixth Form examination. He reveals, “I initially wanted to be a doctor, but in hindsight, it was a great experience for me that I moved on to another field.”
He then trained at the Language Institute at Pantai Kuala Lumpur and subsequently took up a teaching position and did a correspondence course to obtain his Higher School Certificate while he was a teacher. Then he decided to further his studies to do accountancy – in New Zealand, no less.
Ghazi remembers that even then he had always wanted to be different.
“I went to Mara for (financial) help, and they were surprised because I was the first qualified teacher to ask them for a scholarship.
Most people at the time went to University of Malaya, but I appealed to go overseas because I wanted the exposure.”
He eventually got the scholarship, and it was in New Zealand that he helped out at the grocery store owned by the family he was staying with. Like everything else that followed, there was a lesson he took home from that experience.
“It was then that I realised what customer service and customer relationship management was all about, because I saw it being practised. I was fascinated!” he says.
After completing his studies, Ghazi went back to Mara where he was placed in the industry and commerce division and did market research on the batik and leather industries – which led to his first big break.
“I moved on to Kulitkraf, and after only 10 months, the general manager left the company and recommended me to take the position. I remember the director general of Mara telling me, ‘Ghazi, the company is sick, and you can either make it or break it. Do you want the job?’ Of course I took it, and used it as an opportunity to learn.”
It was soon after that – in 1976 – when he became involved in politics, by virtue of setting up a new Umno branch division in what was then a new area – Damansara Utama. Over the years, he moved up the political ladder and it eventually led to his appointment as a senator for two terms from 1997 to 2003.
In the meantime, Ghazi was going places career-wise: he had stints as CEO of Berita Publishing, executive director of Berjaya Group and he even had a hand in starting the wastewater management company Indah Water.
It was around that time that ICT (information communications technology) was the buzzword because of the then Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s interest in technology.
He recalls doing a lot of reading to keep abreast of technology – and it had another benefit.
“This was one area where other senators were afraid to talk about because it was technical. That was where I saw my niche, and each time I talked I brought ICT into it. That was why I became known as the ICT man in the senate.”
His duties as a senator kept him from returning to his kampung, but an opportunity arose for him to give something back to his birthplace.
“One day, the imam approached me asking for donations to buy extra land for a graveyard. I thought to myself – if I contribute to a graveyard, it is something dead, and I wanted something alive.”
He instead built the Pusat Ilmu Ishaqiah (a knowledge centre named after his great-grandfather) and filled it with computers.
It was the centre that allowed him to follow his interest in ICT with another growing passion of his – that of innovation and creativity.
“Creativity and innovation is a magical tool that can solve many problems. When you come up with a creative idea and you implement it, it becomes an innovation, and when you put more value into an innovation it becomes an invention.
Therefore, when you think creatively, and get an idea, follow it up with the right knowledge and skills – you can turn it into a product.”
The centre used to house Ghazi’s personal collection of approximately 300 old and new consumer electronic items. His collection, which is currently in his house, essentially shows the evolution of products – but with each newer model it never reaches perfection.
“What it shows is that there is no end to creative ideas and innovative thinking,” he says.
Ghazi believes he can turn his collection into some form of laboratory for the creative thinking process.
“This is a new concept – there are laboratories for science and computers but not creative thinking. I have a collection which I see value in, but I need to refine this idea.”
He further explains, “Ideas from many heads are better than one. I am limited if I work by myself. If we can pool all the brains together and come up with one product we can go one step closer to becoming a developed nation.”
Ghazi concludes, “My dream is to have an association dedicated solely to promoting creativity and innovation. Our Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has called out for Malaysians to budayakan inovasi (create a culture of innovation). As Malaysians, we should commit to providing a tribute for our country’s 50 years of independence. People complementing the government’s initiative, which will help us achieve our dreams together, will be an effective gift!”
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A former Malaysian Senator who's passionate in creativity and innovation led him to be the Founder/President of Malaysian Association of Creativity and Innovation (MACRI)
Innovation & Creativity