By SEOW MEI LING

IN the 1950s and 60s, management in Malaysia, except in the
large companies, was very patriarchal in nature.

Concepts of modern or scientific management were unheard off,
and despite the obvious need for managerial training, nothing
much came about from the private sector because the various
chambers of commerce and professional business associations
appeared to be only concerned with their own field of interest.

They did not take into consideration the needs of the country as
a whole.

Later on, however, there arose people and organisations who were
ready to fill this gap. The National Productivity Centre (NPC)
initiated by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the
University of Malaya, the Government and, indirectly, the ILO
itself with the backing of certain United Nation's agencies were
among those who were ready to champion the cause for managerial
training.

These organisations all played a part in forming the Malaysian
Institute of Management (MIM).

In the early 1960s, the Malaysian economy was thriving to the
point where lack of managerial expertise could no longer be
ignored.

In 1963, Ir George Lee proposed at the ILO Regional Conference
in Tokyo the idea of ILO addressing the issue of management
development to help developing countries. This proposal was
adopted.

In 1965, a preparatory committee was set up to plan the launch
of the Institute.

A number of like-minded people championed the idea of a national
management institute. They were Paddy Bowie, Spencer F. Willey,
Samuel A. Abishegam, Ray Wiggs and Ir George Lee.

So, MIM was born and inaugurated as a voluntary society on
January 29 1966. It was later incorporated as a company limited
by guarantee on March 28 1975.

Man behind birth of MIM

One of the pioneers of the Institute, Lee has continuously and
tirelessly been involved with the MIM as a member of the General
Council since its inception, a member of the Court of Fellows
for more than 30 years and a vice-chairman for nine years.
Today, he is the institute's chairman.

Lee attributes his drive to passion and patriotism for Malaysia
in general and the institute's well being in particular,
especially in the field of human capital training and
development within the management fraternity.

"However, the management scenario today has changed tremendously
since the beginnings of the Institute.

"The emergence of new technology has enabled information to
travel almost instantaneously and jarred our perception of what
global trade is all about. The phenomenon of globalisation has
impacted management," he says.

"Yet, in spite of all the high tech and sophisticated
innovations in management over the last few decades, the basic
fundamentals of management principles have never changed and
management is all about managing people - especially the human
aspects - to treat everyone as a valued human being and not a
machine.

"One of the keys to managing people is to gain the respect of
those you are managing.

"One way is what I have learnt in my early days at college,
leadership by example."

He explains, "If you instruct someone to do a job, you must have
experienced it yourself. Then you know how much effort has to be
put into doing that job and how you should be rewarded.

"If you have never done that job before, and you have only
learnt it on paper, then you would not know how hard it is to do
the job. You must be able to show the way to achieve success."

In addition to his passionate involvement with the Institute,
Lee also owns an engineering consultancy company that has been
in operations for 50 years. He has since retired.

He has a motto in his office that says: "The impossible we do
right away. Miracles take a bit longer."

You must never say "no" to challenges unless, of course, it is
absolutely impractical, he says. In anything else, you must
always view it with positive attitude and you must have the "can
do" mentality."

There are many people today who give up too easily in the face
of challenges, he feels.

As such, he constantly encourages others to never give up in
finding solutions to their challenges or problems. In other
words, if there is a will, there is a way. It is a matter of
putting one's mind to the task.

Personal philosophies and principles

Lee considers honesty and integrity as very important
principles.

"To be honest to yourself, you must do your very best. Since I
was a young boy, I have always tried to do my best. I do not
expect reward except for what I have asked to be paid.

"People today expect bonuses or some form of extra reward. They
expect to get a reward, but when you are paid to do a job for x
sum of money you should not expect to get x plus y. For x sum of
money, you must do your best, that's it.

"And when you want to do your best, you must equip yourself with
knowledge. Every day I am learning something new."

Lee, 75, is an avid reader. He gets about 20 magazines a month
covering a variety of subjects including management,
engineering, and computer science.

He also has an extensive collection of books at home. He is an
accomplished golfer, horse rider, and skier, and he flies an
aeroplane and rears aquarium fishes. He also does oil painting.

Lee also believes in walking the extra mile in one's work,
especially for someone who is persistent and believes in giving
his best. He recollects an incident at an ILO Conference where
Malaysia was vying to be elected as president for the first time
and was contending neck-and-neck with another country.

Lee was asked to get a seconder for the nomination of the then
Labour Minister Tan Sri Manickavasagam.

He remembers feeling dejectedwhen his request for support was
turned down countless times, but he refused to give up. He
finally managed to enlist the support of the Swiss employer's
delegate at the eleventh hour, and Malaysia won 75% of the
votes.

"Never say you can't do it. It is sad to see people saying they
can't do it even when you pay them. You have to motivate
yourself. No matter how much money people reward you to do a
job, if you can't motivate or you don't want to motivate
yourself, it is pointless at the end of the day."

Since it was set up, the Malaysian Institute of Management has
been recognised as a national Institute by the Government. Lee,
as current chairman, is focusing on enhancing that image of MIM.

MIM is seeking closer collaborative alliance and partnerships
with the Government, government-linked companies and the private
sector to support the transition of today's managers into "21st
Century managers", and prepare "ideal future manager leaders".

"We are currently doing a lot of work with the public sector,
with pragmatic leaders such as Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
and Tun Dr Mahathir Mohammad," Lee says.

"We feel that managing the public sector should be like managing
the private sector."

He elaborates, "There must be strong motivation for success. The
private sector is measured often by strong profit element. In
the public sector, the success of a department is the efficiency
and goodwill it creates to members of the public. Whether it is
the police force or fire brigade or the income tax department,
all these must show that they are properly managed."
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