Speech to Graduates at 2015 Yuan Ze University Commencement

There is nothing permanent except change.

──Heraclitus

 

It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.

──Charles Darwin

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In 1965, Gordon Moore, Co-Founder of Intel Corporation, observed that the number of components in a dense integrated circuit had doubled approximately every year, and speculated that it would continue to do so for at least next ten years.  Technology has been transforming at that amazing speed during the past 50 years, such as mobile network, IoT, robot, cloud computing, AI, etc. have been quickly emerging, disrupting the way the world is revolving and bringing tremendous impacts to people’s lives.

The game of go is perhaps one of the world’s most complex chess games, which not only requires logic calculation but also creativity, observation and strategic thinking.  Not long ago, AlphaGo, a computer Go program developed by Google DeepMind, defeated South Korean professional Go player, meaning computer’s thinking ability is very much close to human brain.  Maybe in the near future, many human jobs will be replaced by computers.  This will probably be the world you are facing, and you all need to be prepared for it.

The main reason why the Far Eastern Group has been growing prosperously during the past 65 years is because the Far Easterners are strongly adaptive to changes and are able to seize world trend and　competitive edge.  We remain flexible in transformation to rise to a smarter future and have thus overcome many challenges.  This Far Eastern spirit is also deeply rooted in the Yuan Ze University.  Therefore, I am convinced that you are all equipped with this outstanding quality to adapt to changes.  Furthermore, I would also urge you to acquire the following 3A capabilities to become A-class talent in the new era:

1. Be Aggressive: No matter how outstanding is your academic performance, or how many awards you have received, you should never be complacent.  The outside world is so broad that you need to open up your mind, expand your vision, remain curious and stay enthusiastic by absorbing extensive new knowledge, and seek for breakthrough.  In particular, you need to bear in mind that if you do not continue to make progress, you will fall behind.

2. Be Ambitious: After leaving school, you will begin to work and need to change a great deal of mindset, only your ambition should remain.  In future you will work in different industries and deal with different encounters.  Regardless, you should set up a grand objective, look farther, move faster than others, and walk in front of others so as to become leader in your respective professional arena.

3. Take Accountability: Former U.S. President Harry S. Truman once said: “The buck stops here.” meaning that the accountability stops here.  In your life’s path, you will inevitably take more and more responsibilities.  When facing with responsibilities, do not run away, but to take responsibility and make contribution, even with proactive thinking to try to do more, by spending a little extra effort every day will serve to make you stronger and build up your own exclusive competitive strength.

The world will never cease to change.  How to rise to a smarter future is a lasting marathon race.  In order to overcome any challenge, you must continuously adjust yourselves, embrace new disruptive technologies, and remain aggressive, ambitious and contributing with accountability.  Always bear in mind that the difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little “extra”.  Hope you can all be extraordinary.



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