IoBM degree recipients advised not to forget corporate social responsibility

Karachi: Congratulating the fresh graduates of the Institute of Business Management (IoBM) who were awarded their degrees at the 18th convocation of the institute on Saturday, former Senate chairman Muhammadmian Soomro exhorted upon the graduating students never to forget that as they gathered success in life, they must become humble as humility was the hallmark of a great person. 

He said that as they made progress in life, it must also dawn on them that they should be service-oriented rather than self-oriented. They should think as to what they could do for others who were not as fortunate as they, rather than for themselves, he added.

“You must not excel in isolation but in relation to the world,” he exhorted the graduating students. “Keep in mind the fact that Pakistan is your future.”  He said he was so happy to see the large number of women graduates, an indication of how women were becoming emancipated in the country and how they were willing to shoulder the development process alongside their male counterparts.

Kamal Chinoy, the keynote speaker, said they could look forward to a much greater institution in the future. “Today is a day you’ll never forget all your lives,” he said to the fresh graduates. 

Referring to corporate greats Bill Gates and Richard Branson, he said true 99 percent of the graduates may not reach that stature but still it is this 99 percent that made the world. “You’ll be the force behind all the progress,” he said. 

In a nutshell, he gave some lessons. These were: never underestimate any suggestion; write down your business plans; aim for the stars but keep your feet on the ground; pay your dues, implying that you shouldn’t forget to give back to society what it has given you. You should never forget your commitment to social service, to the betterment and uplift of society.

“Make a pledge to yourselves that you’ll make your progeny better educated than you are,” he said. The chancellor of the university, Najmuddin Shaikh, recalled the juncture 20 years ago and the modest beginning of the institute to a mode of continuously enhancing academic excellence and branding both here and abroad.

He said, “Today the institute is known for its trade mark in the corporate sector and its reputation at the international level, along with the constantly rejuvenating campus with its illustrious faculty, meticulous management and gifted students blossoming in an atmosphere of cheers, quality education and state-of-the-art facilities.”

The object of purposeful education, he said, was corporate social responsibility blended with development-focused education in all fields like arts, humanities, and commerce.

A total of 933 degrees in the fields of BBA (Honours), industrial engineering, media studies, MBA, advertising and media management, MBA (Hospital management and health), MPhil in Business Management and organisational psychology and a PhD degree in Education which was bagged by Samra Javed, a senior officer at the Executive Management Excellence Centre, were given away jointly by IoBM Rector Talib Karim and the chief guest, Muhammadmian Soomro.

Asfia Aziz was declared the valedictorian  and the winner of the SH Hashmi memorial gold medal. In her valedictory address, she said, “We should be proud of the IoBM.” Graduation, she said, was an end and a beginning, an end of our past and the beginning of our dreams of the future. 

“Be thankful to Allah Almighty. Each one of you can make a difference. More than machinery, we need humanity. Let’s work for a world where the rich don’t get richer and the poor poorer,” she said.

She paid special tributes to her mother and said that her mother got the credit for her (Asfia’s) achievements. She exhorted her contemporaries to gauge the role played by their parents in their success.