Address made
by Mr.Rohan Seneviratne, new president of CMBAAA at the
9th AGM held on 7th July 2006.
The out going President of Colombo MBA Alumni
Association Prasad Jayasuriya, members of the head table, distinguish invitees,
fellow members, ladies and gentlemen,
I am extremely grateful to the members of the
Colombo MBA Alumni Association for the great honour they have
bestowed on me by electing me as the President of this Association. I am fully aware of the many responsibilities
that are associated with this trust and honour. I assure you all that I will do
my best to meet your expectations and also justify the confidence that has been
reposed in me.
I joined Colombo MBA Alumni Association in the year
1998 when Sarath Kumarasinghe
was the President. I served under the
able leadership of Pushpe, Chris, Neil, Kalyani and Prasad.
I have walked trough a long journey in the Colombo MBA Alumni Association with
enthusiasm, excitement and commitment. I
held the posts of Assistant Secretary, Vice President and Deputy President of
the Association. These have helped me 11 years after entering the
I take this opportunity to offer my sincere thanks
to my predecessors, for their noteworthy contributions in bringing this
institution to its present status. In particular, I would like to convey my
sincere personal gratitude to the out-going President Prasad Jayasuriya, for
his able stewardship which resulted in many development activities of the
Colombo MBA Alumni Association. I assure
my predecessors and members of the Colombo MBA Alumni Association that I will give
of my best and endeavor to nurture and further the cause of this institution.
I look forward to the active assistance and continue
cooperation of my colleagues in the Executive Committee so that we could work
as a cohesive force to achieve goals. In that respect, I am happy to mention
that I am fortunate to have on board to assist me the best executive committee
that I can hope for. My fellow alumni members thank
you very much for electing this executive committee.
My dear members, as the new President who has just
been elected you will expect me to say a few words about the activities your
association hopes to embark on during the year.
The theme for the year that I have envisaged is ………
We
will facilitate our membership to network, share and gain knowledge and ideas,
continue to have mutually beneficial relations with the University in order to
maximize the value of the MBA programme and last but
not least stimulate enjoyment through our various activities.
One of the key words in the theme is staying
connected or
networking. Even though
Of course networking spills over to the sharing and gaining of knowledge, ideas, experiences. The Alumni will continue to provide opportunities to meet each other. I intend to organize one event every month thus opening up forums and enabling you to network and gain knowledge with greater frequency.
An area of great importance which still needs much
attention is the enhancing or maximizing of the value of MBA programme. When I say maximizing the value what I am
talking about is the image building. Our
vision is “to be the first choice in business governance”. It would be naïve to
assume that just because we have an MBA, we will automatically get top jobs or be
invited to join decision making processes. While at one level we must of course
earn our positions., at another level we compete
against other foreign and local postgraduate business degrees. I am proud to say that one of our alumnus Mr. Lalith Weerathunge is the Secretary to the H.E
the President and is holding a top position in decision making process. We need
many more such personalities. However, I acknowledge that it is the
responsibility of our Association to enhance the value of the MBA programme. I promise
you that we will implement a number of activities which will help our members
and specially MBA students to build their leadership and managerial skills,
which I believe will help them to earn their due places.
To have a very effective year, we need something
more. That is your cooperation and assistance as members of Colombo MBA Alumni
Association. As the President of Colombo MBA Alumni Association I commit to
give the necessary leadership to the Association in such away that all the
required assistance and cooperation will be available when required.
Let me conclude my speech quoting from the Great Mahathma Gandhi: “ I want to see
My dear friends, if I were to repeat this same
quotation in my own words, then I will say;
“ I want to see that I will
fulfill what I promise you today during my term as President. If I fail to do
so I shall not quarrel with the Executive Committee, I shall not quarrel with my fellow
members, I shall not quarrel with any other. Then I shall quarrel only with my
self”.
Thank you.