Bill Clinton in Kuala Lumpur – BC Sekhar Memorial Lecture

Turns out that I did attend Clinton’s lecture in KL yesterday afterall. Was held at KL Convention Centre.

But was there as a volunteer, and helped out in the public guests registration. And really, when you’re handling the mass public, you’ll get to meet lots of nasty people. Despite the many CEO, director, datuk, etc designations, a lot of people were just plain rude.

Ignorant people I’ve met a lot, but oh boy, yesterday was worse than that. Some would purposely find fault and raise their voices right from the get go; as though they’ll drop dead immediately if they be just a little courteous.

Not trying to chastise Malaysians, as most are nice and reasonable yesterday. But argg... those few rotten apples should be lynched.

Anyway, the lecture itself was great. Will not elaborate much on what Clinton said; just google it and you should be able to find the transcript or something. But what impresses me the most is Clinton’s vast involvements in humanitarian issues – HIV/AIDS, climate change, health care, economics etc – via his foundations.

And am quite sure that he’s very much passionate and involved in them because he can relate so well to those subjects. He shared a good number of stories, PRECISE facts, experiences, opinions and statistics. His knowledge on global issues is amazing. One moment he’s talking about AIDS, the other moment he’ll be talking about global warming and next bout the current financial crisis.

As I’ve always believed, a leader has to have a certain degree of intelligence. Yes, he/she has to be smart, sharp, and well-read, not just having oratory skills. Of course you’ll still need charisma, but above that, the knowledge must be present.

In Malaysia, there’re two MPs that I believe have such qualities – Jeff Ooi and Tony Pua. For me, they encompass what future Malaysian leaders should be.

Anyways, on a whole, it was a day well spent.

Distinct white hair dude – you know who.