Dare to dream, do something different, hard work and humility is the secret of success shared by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of PKT Logistics Group Sdn. Bhd, Dato' Michael Tio, who was conferred with the Honorary Doctor of Philosophy degree (Logistics Management), in conjunction with the 31st Convocation Ceremony of Universiti Utara Malaysia.

Speaking after receiving the Honorary Doctor of Philosophy degree from His Royal Highness Kebawah Duli Yang Maha Mulia Al Aminul Karim Sultan Sallehuddin Ibni Almarhum Sultan Badlishah, Tuanku Chancellor of Universiti Utara Malaysia during the first session of the 31st Convocation Ceremony of Universiti Utara Malaysia, he shared with the graduates, the importance of having a dream to achieve great success in life and to inspire the younger generation.

"I want to emphasise here that, it is important for us to have a dream – not a dream to marry your favorite K-pop star but a dream to be achieved in life. Before I started my undergraduate studies, I did not have any plan but I wanted to be a successful entrepreneur.

I was motivated by great entrepreneurs and businessmen like Tan Sri Vincent Tan and Sir Richard Branson who built great companies, led great teams and impacted many people’s lives –
yet still lived their dreams," said Dato' Michael Tio.

He also shared his experience where he spent 10 years in United Kingdom and completed his studies while realising his dream to become an entrepreneur.

“Even though I am not Richard Branson, I lived a life in United Kingdom that many of my friends would envy – having an address in Wimbledon and going for holidays in Europe with my own money. I created a business for myself – exporting used cars back to Malaysia.

"In 1996, I decided to leave a comfortable life in the UK and return to Malaysia. I answered my father’s call to return home to manage and expand the family logistics business – PKT," he added.

According to Dato' Michael Tio, he was driven by a new dream – to help create the mass for change so Malaysia can be the next ASEAN logistics hub.

"Upon my return to Malaysia, our beloved Prime Minister Tun Mahathir inspired me in the way he maneuvered the country out of the Financial Crisis in 1997 by pegging our currency to the US Dollar. This is something that no other Asian countries did.

Tun Mahathir thought me that; you have to be bold in order to make a big impact. You have to do something different, even when everyone else is saying “No”.

“That is why PKT built and completed two concept warehouses in year 2009 and 2010. We call our warehouses by intriguing names, such as “The Ship” and “The Waves”, something nobody else in the industry was doing. My message here is that, graduates need to be brave and become different from the others“, added Dato' Michael Tio.

He explained the PKT did something brave and different by collaborating with public universities such as UUM, UiTM, POLISAS and PSP.

“This brings me to my third message to you – Hard work. It is absolutely true what your parents and lecturers told you – Success is 1% inspiration, 99% perspiration. All the growth and innovation in PKT would not have happened without hard work.

Besides PKT, I would like you to know that I spend my weekends wearing the hat of the CEO of the Malaysian Book of Records, encouraging Malaysians to break records and strive for excellence, shared Dato' Michael Tio.

Dato' Michael Tio also reminded the graduates to be humble.

"Even as a CEO, I don’t think twice before doing everyday tasks like carrying bags and flying economy class on my mentoring tours, demonstrating toilet cleaning tips to my cleaners, serving food during meal times and riding in a truck.

“Being humble to me means realising and accepting that there is still so much more I need to learn and at the same time so much more I should give to the people around me. But remember this saying – “Give a man a fish; you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a life time.”

This is why I have a new dream - to mentor as many Small and Medium entrepreneurs as possible so they too can follow my footsteps," concluded Dato' Michael Tio.