Bill Clinton in Malaysia

It was such an honour for me to be able to get tickets to Bill Clinton's lecture in conjunction with The Inaugural Sekhar Memorial Lecture at the Plenary Hall in KLCC. I have to add that I was privileged to score Special Guest tickets and was seated right behind the VIPs. The view was great!

The day started off with some makeup, which I usually reserve only for dinner parties, and dressing up. That caused a mad rush for me early in the morning. Worked half a day at the office and by 1.30pm I was heading to KLCC. Traffic was a bit heavy that day since it was a Friday and it was prayer time at the mosques.

Passes were to be collected between 2pm to 4pm and I was thinking that there might be a long queue. I mean, this is the Bill Clinton we're talking about. I'm sure my Special Guest passes are not that special. But boy was I in for a surprise.

There was a long queue, never seen such a queue before when I arrived. But I thought, maybe I'll just walk up to the front to see what's going on. And lo and behold, there was a Special Guest counter and there was nobody queuing there. Yay!

I got my pass and decided to head for lunch. It was only 2.15pm and doors didn't open till 5pm. So off I went to Spring Garden Restaurant. Newly renovated. I thought, why not give myself a treat. As usual, even the simplest dishes amaze me at Spring Garden.

At 5pm, proceeded back to the Plenary Hall where I was led about on a wild goose chase. There I am in my heels (which I'm totally not used to - another story for another day) and those ushers just kept directing me the wrong way. From the Ground floor, they said to go up to the 3rd floor. So took the lift up and tried to look for the entrance. Asked around and was told to go to the 1st floor. At the 1st floor, was told to go back up to the 3rd floor. This is when I started to get mad. I hate it when people can't give me proper directions and make me walk such distances in heels.

Finally found out that entrance is at 3rd floor down the stairs to enter the Plenary Hall at the 1st floor. Gosh! And that took like 4 different people to get it right.

Went in the hall and phew there were still good seats available. Quite up the front just behind the VIPs. Unobstructed view of the stage. Cool!



The event was supposed to start at 6pm so it was quite a long wait inside the hall. I wasn't going to move and get out for fear of losing my seats. They're my seats! Mine!

As usual, nothing ever starts on time in KL. So it wasn't a surprise that the event only started at 6.30pm. Wasn't all that bad. Wedding dinners start at least an hour later. So half an hour wait is quite good actually.



The event started off with Datuk Vinod Sekhar welcoming and introducing Former US President, Bill Clinton. What followed in the next 40 minutes when Bill took the stage was just awe inspiring. His articulation of his thoughts on what is happening around the world is just amazing. In fact, it's exactly my thoughts.

Why must there be war? Why must people fight? Why can't people just be more tolerant to differences? In the end, we're all humans after all and we're all dependent on each other. That's what global interdependence is all about.



Few points that I will always remember clearly during his lecture are:

1) Before coming to the lecture, he had the opportunity to visit the Bird Park. There were all kinds of birds all living harmoniously in the park. And they were all getting along just fine. At one point, there was a male peacock which spread it's tail to another bird. I can't remember of what species but it wasn't a peahen. Now if birds could do that, why can't we humans do that?

2) After visiting the bird park, he paid a visit to our Prime Minister and his Deputy in Putrajaya. On the way back to KLCC, traffic was heavy and a 35 minute journey became a 65 minute journey. Hence the delay in starting the lecture which he promptly apologised for. But then he said, for a country with so much traffic, your economy will do just fine in these trying times. Coming from a man who was responsible for the longest economic expansion in American history, it sure does mean something for us.

3) Personally I have been wondering for a long, long time why wars are raged onto others in the name of religion. Bear in mind I'm not a very religious person. But I just hate to see all the fighting going on for years and years. And when Bill told the audience about his wife's personal aide who happens to be a devout Muslim and has a best friend who's Jewish, it really showed me that it's all about tolerance. When you're far away in another land, it really doesn't matter who you are and what your beliefs are. All that matters is the connection that each of us has with one another. No matter who we are and what we believe in, we are the human race. Simple.

4) Good business. When asked about charity versus profits, it all boils down to good business, according to Bill. And it just makes so much sense. Take for example, The Clinton Foundation HIV/AIDS Initiative with its goal to help being AIDS treatment to people all over the world. One of its biggest success is in brokering drug distribution agreements. Lower the cost, increase the volume. Result = same profit. Personally, I think the profit could be even more.

If only everyone could make the shift in their mindset about how interconnected we are with every other human being, life would actually be much simpler and happier.

After his lecture, Bill was presented with The BC Sekhar Medal for Transformational Leadership.

It was a very good day for me albeit I ended up with sore feet from the wild goose chase. But it was all well worth it.