On the other hand, there is another school of thought that says that job seekers are not willing to sacrifice and must learn to create opportunities for themselves. In most newspapers reports, we will see that it states graduates are jobless because of being too picky and demanding in terms of wages and benefits. This was true before, but not so much anymore in a competitive employers market today. The fact today is that if you were to ask any of the graduates today, a majority of them will appreciate the opportunity to gain experience and to contribute. Some of them are even working as door to door salesman, fast food operators and even as pump attendants as they have no working experience. I for one, speaking on behalf of the graduates, if provided with the opportunity and guidance, we would do our best to excel in the career given.

Every year both local and foreign education institutions produce thousands of graduates to support the growing workforce. Due to the increase in numbers of jobless graduates that are without work, the government and other GLCs have designed programs to help graduates acquire jobs as well as providing them the venue to channel what they have learn in the course of their studies.

As private owned companies and NGO’s, it is a joint responsibility to contribute their share in helping these graduates in providing them with opportunities to utilize their talents. This will ensure that Malaysia will become an independent country as we have the expertise and manpower to move the country towards a more competitive environment. Currently we have organizations from other country employing Malaysians to serve their own country. We must do our part to continuously train and develop our human capital to be skilled workers for the knowledge based-economy.

It may be a daunting task to change the mindset and abilities of Malaysian to be more progressive but if we think carefully, plan well and execute with precision as a country, we will benefit from it. This is what will lead us to Vision 2020 – A Nation’s Dream for our Future Generations.

When Sam Walton opened his first five and dime store in Newport, Arkansas, after being mustered out of the Army in 1945, his goal was to become the most successful variety store operator in the state. But his innate talent kept bursting the bounds of his own vision. After Wal-Mart had made some progress, one of his executives asked: "Well, now, Sam, how big do you really want this company to be?" Replied Walton, "We're going to take it as it comes, and if we can grow with our own money, we'll maybe add a store or two."

Sam Walton died in 1992, a year in which Wal-Mart ran more than 1,900 stores with over 430,000 employees. Sales topped $55 billion, making it the world's largest retailer, and profits approached $2 billion. Walton was the richest man in the nation. He was probably the greatest merchant in history.

Walton had a secret weapon; Humility. He had a natural respect for those 430,000 people who worked for him. This was exhibited not merely through words but more subtly as well. They knew he respected them through his aura, through a "feeling tone" he engendered around himself. He truly—passionately—believed you could learn from anybody. Because ordinary people knew that, they taught him all they could.

Extracted from How the Giants of Enterprise Seized the Future, by Richard S. Tedlow