CMS Doing Good: Motivating Students to Succeed

Thursday, 7 May 2009, Kuching – “I am here to share with you my life experiences in getting to where I am at today. It begins with a focus to succeed”, said Dato’ Richard Curtis, CMS Group Managing Director, to a group of 60 students from St Thomas’ Secondary School in Kuching here today. The students from Forms 4, 5 and 6, aged from 15 – 17 years, were the first batch to attend a new ‘CMS Doing Good’ programme called the CMS School Circle talk series.

For over one hour, the students listened attentively to Dato’ Richard’s education and career experiences which began with him gaining a law degree despite having little interest in the subject at first. “But I saw the degree as an important stepping stone for me to getting a good job and eventually building a career for myself.”

Among Dato’ Richard’s many gems of advice for the students were core competencies which every working adult must have and tips for young employees. The latter included the importance of having a multi-cultural outlook, of standing out and the ability to communicate. He also stressed on the importance of managing time, of life-long learning, and finally, personal resilience.

Various questions were posed to Dato’ Richard. These included choice of career and what degree to take if indeed one was undecided about life’s goals and ambitions.

Reflecting on the talk, Dato’ Richard later said, “If I was able to convince just 5 young men and young ladies today on the importance of having a goal and to focus on succeeding by getting through school, getting a degree and a good first job, I believe I would have been effective.”

Judging by the level of interest shown by the students towards Dato’ Richard’s talk, there were very positive signs that the CMS School Circle programme had met its objective to ‘Do Good’ for another segment of the community around us – this time being young men and women who will enter the job market within the next 5 years.