Graduation Ceremony 6
Tuesday 25th November 2014 at 4.30 p.m.
JESUITS’ CHURCH – VALLETTA
Academic Oration
Dr George Vital Zammit
B.Sc., B.Com. (Hons), M.A. (Melit.), Ph.D. (Sheffield)
First, let me congratulate you graduates, your families, your loved ones and your friends who supported you.
Addressing this ceremony as a member of the academic staff is an honour and a privilege for which I am profoundly grateful.
Thank you for allowing me to be part of your special day.
So much hard work and sacrifice, so many emotions experienced every step of the way. A special thanks goes to academic and
administrative staff of this University, for their guidance all the way. I assure you that they learned from you, just as much as you
learned from them.
You come here today humbled by a well-deserved achievement. In this solemn occasion, you reminisce about exams, assignments,
group work, individual feats and personal accomplishments. But you also reflect on discussions, exchange of ideas, work on
campus, and the nourishing experience that student life can be. These recollections will forever, be part of your album of life,
where each day is a new page. I tell my students that, if by the time they finish their studies, they are still the same persons,
intellectually and personally, as they were when they came in, then I would consider to have failed them.
If University is not life changing, then what is?
I read and study politics, so I draw today some insights from leaders of the past. We stand not only on the shoulders of giants, but
we gaze in the shadow of their wisdom.
In the past years, you brought yourselves to new horizons. For some it was a full-time experience, for others it was a hard struggle
between work, family and part-time study. One thing is common though. You all made it. And you should be proud of it.
My father, a teacher for forty years, used to tell me that his role was threefold; a teacher, an educator and an actor. It took me a
while to understand the difference between the first two, and the connection with the third. Now, that education has become my
life, this became all clearer to understand.
We, as academics, have a responsibility to share new knowledge with you. But the buck does not stop there. We ought to give you
an educational experience by setting examples of good conduct, respect, and accountability. And the way we impart this to you
needs to be worthy of our best act. Alexander the Great famously coined, ‘I am indebted to my father for living, but to my teacher
for living well’. Who could argue against when Aristotle is your teacher?
So I shall be dedicating a few thoughts here on what I consider to be defining challenges to you, as professionals in your career,
and as persons in your life.
Shape your destiny
One reason you are here today is that you have decided to take charge of your destiny.
There is no straight line from where you are today to where you will be in a few years’ time. The people you meet, the places you
travel to, the experiences that you live, can shape your life in ways you never expected. But the ball is in your court.
The 1990s were exciting times indeed. Developments in the world were changing the political landscape and a technology boom
thanks to Microsoft and Oracle, amongst others, was looming. These were the years of my transition from secondary, to postsecondary, to tertiary education, and I felt that I could not go wrong with the decisions I was making. Well, in one thing I was
surely right. At the age of 15, I started dating my present wife and partner of 19 years, and that, if I may, I still feel is one of the best
decisions I ever made.
Taking heed from Market trends, I went on to read for a degree in Business and Computing. After an Honours degree in
Management, I joined a recruitment company that focused on international investment banking. I thought too this was a vibrant
lucrative industry but dreams and aspirations were shattered by one fine Tuesday morning, from then on remembered, as
September 11. I still remember talking to bankers who knew colleagues that were lost in that infamous day. I tried to make sense of
what was happening in the world by reading for a Masters in Diplomatic Studies by taking leave from my full-time job. I soon
realized that my calling was public service, and the only way to do government, is to join Government.
One day I called the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and asked to speak to the Human Resources Manager to enquire about job
opportunities at the Ministry. The reply was to pay attention to any public examinations to join the Civil Service. But when? No
idea. Eventually I did apply, sat for exams, interviewed, and by a twist of fate, in less than two years, I myself became the Human
Resources Manager at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. I would not try to work out the odds of something like that possibly
happening. But it did.
When the first PhD Scholarships were issued, I decided to jump on the wagon again. Five years later, with three years of unpaid
leave, and thanks to a supportive wife, I sat for my doctoral viva in political science.
You will probably have different trajectories. But I am sure, what lies ahead of you are horizons you never thought existed.
Connections
We live in a competitive world. We are now connected in various ways especially through social media tools, which have,
pervasively penetrated communication between human beings at every level. We call this progress, and it is inevitable. We are still
trying to understand how such tools contributed to the Arab Spring, Euromaidan, and the recent Umbrella Revolution.
From this end, we need to explore how such tools can be used in Education, to make teaching fun, to make learning fun, but most
of all to foster creativity and imagination in our students.
Yet, this achievement in human communication, has led to a paradoxical situation. We became avid social networkers, but we
forgot how to socialize. I shall quote a piece from what I believe is one of the most iconic speeches in the history of film.
‘We have developed speed, but we have shut ourselves in. Machinery that gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge has
made us cynical. Our cleverness, hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery we need humanity.
More than cleverness we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost...’ That was
Charlie Chaplin, from The Great Dictator (1940).
More than 70 years ago Chaplin was fighting for ideals that still resonate today. The context has changed, but the sentiment
remains. Humanity has to be preserved, and human relations treasured.
A city upon a hill
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says to his followers ‘You are the light of the world – A city that is set on a hill cannot be
hidden’ (Matthew 5:14). Today, with deep humility, you stand with greater responsibility in a society that needs bold thinking and
brave doing. The problems of today need solutions for tomorrow, and you are now called to stand up and be counted. Never be
ashamed to harbour ambition, personal achievement is admirable in whatever form it comes, but the common good needs to be
protected and preserved.
Today our planet is facing enormous challenges. Climate change, resource depletion and human displacement beckon us to take
concrete action. In the past we fought for land, ethnicity, religion and oil. In the future, wars will be fought for water. In Malta, we
are living an era characterized by construction and development, yet water is not preserved. We are aware yet we keep postponing
taking concrete measures to ensure sustainable health care, education, welfare, pensions and a reliable transport system.
As Pericles said to the Athenians, ‘we do not imitate – for we are a model to others’. Preserve your individuality, develop courage,
exercise judgement and retain your integrity. George Bernard Shaw (1921) advocated this approach to life: ‘Other people, see
things and say why? But I dream things that never were; and I say, why not?’ Do not be afraid to take the hard way.
In his speech to Rice University, John Fitzgerald Kennedy (1962) had urged the nation to support the quest for space. ‘We choose
to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they
are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that
we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win.’
Mistakes
This may be the most fantastic time in human history. Google X has just announced its ongoing experimentation with a nano pill
to detect early forms of cancer. Mankind’s driving spirit to reach new heights, to innovate, to discover comes only with constant
trials and errors. Scottish Philosopher Thomas Carlyle opined that ‘genius is an infinite capacity for taking pains’.
Your conferment today marks a determination that you have pursued and upheld to enhance your education. Students of
Accountancy, Public Policy, Tourism, Climate Change and Sustainable Development, Music and Performing Arts - your best is
yet to come. Work not until you tire, work until you are done. The key to success is not wealth or intelligence, but timing and
persistence. Set yourselves lofty goals, but brace yourselves to walk all the way. The difference between those who make it and
those who do not lies in that extra mile, which some may not be ready to make. In business that is called competitive advantage. In
politics it is called tenacity. At the personal level it is called endurance.
Never be afraid of failure. It is better to try and fail, then to fail to try.
Albert Einstein’s primary school teacher said he would ‘never amount to much’. Oprah Winfrey was demoted from her first TV
job as they claimed she ‘was not fit for Television’. Walt Disney was fired from a newspaper for ‘lacking imagination and having
no original ideas’. At the age of 30, Steve Jobs was fired from the company he himself had started. Thomas Edison was scorned by
his teacher as ‘too stupid to learn anything’. In Music, the Beatles were rejected by the Recording Company Decca who did not like
their music and regarded them as having no future in show business. Jon Bon Jovi was refused by all the Recording Companies he
approached, and when Queen wanted to release the Bohemian Rhapsody, some executives warned them it was too long and it
would never be a hit.
The names of all these people are now etched in history. They faced rejection and failure, and faced dilemmas on whether they
should go on or not. Luckily for them, and for us, they persisted.
There will be days in your life where throwing the towel, abandoning your plans, calling it a day will be the easier option. We are
after all, human beings not robots. But these are the moments that define who we really are. In his farewell speech to the White
House, the 37th President of the United States Richard Nixon (1974), poignantly counselled that ‘greatness comes not when things
go always good for you, but the greatness comes and you are really tested, when you take some knocks, some disappointments,
when sadness comes, because only if you have been in the deepest valley can you ever know how magnificent it is to be on the
highest mountain.’
Epilogue
I have shared with you today, sentiments, thoughts and ideas that I treasure in my life.
Your education is only a tool in your journey for self-discovery and personal fulfilment. What you believe today may not make
sense tomorrow.
You may think you are no longer students, but the reality is that we stay students for life. Our life is one whole learning curve.
Keep the mind-set of a student, stay curious, stay hungry for things new. Be receptive to new ideas, explore new ventures, and
endeavour into new frontiers. Only if he has been part of a cause larger than himself, can man be truly whole.
I part from you today with the lyrics of one of the most memorable melodies in musical history.
‘I hear babies cryin’, I watch them grow, They’ll learn much more than I’ll ever know, And I think to myself, what a wonderful
world.’
What a wonderful world!
Good luck and congratulations once again.
Thank you.
__________________________________
1
Used by President Richard Nixon in his inaugural Speech on January 20, 1969.
2
Louis Armstrong “What a wonderful world”, 1967.