Nasib Baik Saya Tak Kebumikan Impian Saya…

NASIB BAIK SAYA TAK KEBUMIKAN IMPIAN SAYA…

Pagi ini saya masih di Manchester, UK. Saya terjaga awal daripada biasa. Kebetulan Subuh di sini pun seawal jam 3.10 pagi. Lepas sahaja selesai solat Subuh, saya dah tak boleh tidur. Banyak benda bermain dalam fikiran saya.

Saya sampai ke sini pagi semalam dari Malaysia. Insya-Allah petang ini sekitar jam 5 petang waktu UK, lebih kurang jam 12 malam waktu Malaysia, saya akan menghadiri majlis konvokesyen Global MBA di Alliance Manchester Business School, fakulti di bawah University of Manchester.

Petang semalam saya sempat lalu semula ke bangunan tempat saya hadir kelas-kelas MBA saya sepanjang dua tahun ini. Jujur, bila fikir balik saya dah lama benamkan dan hapuskan impian saya nak belajar di universiti ini. Saya rasa macam tak percaya… dalam kepala saya… benda ini memang it’s almost impossible. Kenapa saya kata it’s almost impossible?

Satu… sebab Alliance Manchester Business School ini antara program MBA terbaik di UK dan juga antara yang terbaik di dunia.

Dua… dulu saya ni tak ada degree. Master degree apatah lagi PhD memang tak ada. Yang saya ada cuma Diploma Analisa Pelaburan daripada UiTM Segamat. Sedangkan syarat nak apply… mestilah ada degree atau master dengan keputusan yang baik, pengalaman kerja di level yang mereka expect dan macam-macam lagi.

Tiga… fees dia memang “bapak” mahal. Belum campur kos flight, travelling, hotel, ulang-alik ke UK dan macam-macam lagi. Itulah cara saya fikir dulu.

Hari ini, insha-Allah akhirnya selepas selesai 24 bulan perjalanan Global MBA ini… sekitar jam 5 petang nanti saya akan menghadiri majlis konvokesyen saya.

Entah kenapa, pagi ini yang bermain dalam fikiran saya bukan tentang konvokesyen. Bukan tentang jubah. Bukan tentang sijil. Tetapi tentang betapa jauhnya perjalanan saya nak sampai ke sini. Perjalanan yang orang tak tahu. Orang tak nampak dan kalau saya sendiri tak lalui, mungkin saya pun tak percaya.

Saya masih ingat hari saya menerima tawaran untuk buat Degree in Finance di Rochester Institute of Technology, Amerika Syarikat sekitar tahun 1995, masa baru habis Diploma Analisa Pelaburan di UiTM Segamat. Masa tu, gila happy. Saya fikir, “Inilah peluang yang akan mengubah hidup aku dan keluarga.”

Tetapi… dan-dan masa itu juga MARA membekukan tajaan dan pinjaman untuk pelajar dalam bidang perniagaan, pengurusan dan kewangan ke luar negara. Keluarga saya pula memang tidak mampu. Masa tu saya rasa sedih, rasa marah, rasa kecewa, rasa useless… tak tahu nak salahkan siapa. Saya bukannya gagal diterima. Result saya bukannya tak bagus. Saya bukannya tak pandai. Saya diterima. Tetapi saya tak dapat pergi. Saya tak tahu macam mana nak gambarkan perasaan itu. Sangat kecewa.

Masa tu dapat peluang belajar masa di luar negara adalah impian besar ramai orang untuk nak ubah hidup keluarga. Dan tak ada rezeki saya.

Mungkin Allah ada perancangan lain yang saya sendiri tak faham ketika itu. Saya simpan impian itu jauh dalam hati dan saya teruskan kehidupan.

Hari ini bila saya pandang ke belakang, saya tak menyesal pun dengan jalan yang Allah pilih untuk saya. Sebab kalau saya terus ke Amerika masa itu, mungkin perjalanan hidup saya tak akan jadi macam hari ini.

Mungkin saya tak terus kerja di syarikat saham masa tu, saya tak berhenti dan mula berniaga dan lalui pelbagai kegagalan, mungkin tak terlibat dalam membina syarikat pemasaran dan jualan saya dari 2001 sampai layak leading project as Organisational Head Malaysia 2006.

Mungkin 2008, saya tak mulakan Richworks, saya tak akan bertemu dengan begitu ramai usahawan yang hari ini menjadi sebahagian daripada perjalanan hidup saya.

Dan mungkin saya tak akan lalui segala jatuh bangun yang membentuk siapa saya hari ini.

Saya reda dengan takdir Allah. Tetapi saya tak pernah reda untuk melepaskan impian saya. Itu dua perkara yang berbeza. Saya reda dengan jalan yang Allah tentukan tetapi dalam hati saya… saya masih menyimpan harapan. Saya masih percaya kalau Allah izinkan, satu hari nanti saya tetap nak sambung belajar di universiti yang selama ini saya impikan.

Sehinggalah tiga tahun lalu… masa tu saya datang ke Manchester untuk tengok konsert Coldplay. Sebenarnya itu bukan kali pertama saya datang ke Manchester.

Saya pernah belajar dan graduate Master of Science in Marketing daripada University of Salford bertahun-tahun dulu. Yalah orang kata kalau tak dapat masuk universiti yang kita betul-betul impikan kurang-kurang dapat juga belajar dekat-dekat sini. Tak tahulah kenapa mungkin sebab saya terlalu mengagumi kisah Sir Alex Ferguson membina Manchester United menjadi sebuah pasukan yang penuh legasi. Sedikit sebanyak bandar Manchester ini memang ada tempat yang istimewa dalam hati saya.

Kebetulan masa menuju ke Stadium Etihad, kereta kami lalu di hadapan University of Manchester. Saya nampak logo universiti itu. Tiba-tiba saya cakap dekat wife saya, “Papa nak cuba apply juga dekat University of Manchester.” Yalah dulu masa muda saya cuma ada Diploma. Sekarang mungkin kelayakan saya, pengalaman saya dan perjalanan hidup saya dah berbeza. Saya cakap, “Nak apply dulu… tengok ada rezeki atau tak.”

Lepas tu saya cakap pula dengan diri sendiri, “Azizan, selama ini kau kata kau nak belajar di universiti macam ni… tapi pernah tak sekali pun kau mencuba?” Jawapannya… tak pernah.

Saya buat keputusan. Saya akan memohon. Kalau ditolak, saya reda. Bukannya saya tak pernah ditolak. Saya pernah mohon ke beberapa universiti terkemuka di Amerika Syarikat sebelum ini dan pernah ditolak. Tak apa. Sekurang-kurangnya kali ini saya mencuba. Sebab saya sedar selama ini yang banyak menghadkan diri saya bukan orang lain. Tetapi diri saya sendiri.

Tak lama selepas balik dari Manchester. Alhamdulillah… saya menerima berita yang mengubah segalanya. Saya diterima. Allah buka jalan yang selama ini saya sangka dah tertutup.

Dan pagi ini, beberapa jam sebelum saya melangkah masuk ke dewan konvokesyen saya masih hampir tak percaya. Rupa-rupanya, impian itu tak pernah mati. Saya sahaja yang hampir membunuh impian itu dengan fikiran saya sendiri. Saya saja yang rasa saya tak layak. Saya saja yang rasa saya tak mampu. Sedangkan Allah belum pernah pun kata “tidak”.

Sebab itu kalau ada satu perkara yang saya nak kongsikan pagi ini, jangan terlalu cepat menguburkan impian hanya kerana keadaan hidup kita hari ini.

Ramai orang bukan gagal sebab tak mampu. Ramai orang gagal sebab mereka sendiri berhenti mencuba. Mereka sendiri mengalah. Mereka sendiri memutuskan bahawa impian itu dah tak mungkin berlaku.

Saya pula pilih untuk percaya, mungkin bukan hari ini. Mungkin bukan tahun ini. Tetapi kalau Allah letakkan impian itu dalam hati kita… mungkin Dia cuma sedang menunggu kita benar-benar bersedia, benar-benar komited dan tidak berhenti berusaha. Kadang-kadang yang berubah bukan impian itu. Yang berubah adalah diri kita. Dan bila diri kita berubah, Allah buka pintu yang dulu kita sendiri sangka mustahil untuk dibuka.

Doakan saya.

Insha-Allah petang ini, saya akan menghadiri majlis konvokesyen saya di Manchester. Semoga Allah permudahkan segala urusan dan semuanya berjalan dengan lancar. Nanti selepas selesai, Insha-Allah saya akan kongsikan gambar dan video perjalanan yang sangat bermakna ini bersama anda semua.

Alhamdulillah another MBA. Soon another MBA dari Fudan University, China dan doakan next year selesai Phd dari UPM.

Datuk Wira

I’m Glad I Didn’t Bury My Dream Before Giving It a Chance

This morning, I woke up earlier than usual here in Manchester. After performing Fajr prayers, which begin as early as 3.10 a.m. during this time of the year, I found myself unable to go back to sleep. My mind kept returning to one thought.

In just a few hours, I will attend my Global MBA graduation ceremony at Alliance Manchester Business School, part of The University of Manchester, yet strangely, I wasn’t thinking about the graduation gown, the certificate or even the ceremony itself. Instead, I was reflecting on how close I once came to convincing myself that studying here was simply impossible.

There was a time when this university felt far beyond my reach. Alliance Manchester Business School is recognised as one of the world’s leading MBA institutions, and years ago I didn’t even have a bachelor’s degree. My academic qualification was a Diploma in Investment Analysis from UiTM Segamat, while the financial commitment required to study here seemed overwhelming once tuition fees, flights, accommodation and frequent travel between Malaysia and the United Kingdom were taken into account. Looking back, I realise it wasn’t just my circumstances that made the dream feel impossible. It was the story I had started telling myself.

That feeling reminded me of another chapter in my life. In 1995, shortly after completing my diploma, I received an offer to pursue a Finance degree at the Rochester Institute of Technology in the United States. I genuinely believed that opportunity would transform not only my future but my family’s as well.

Unfortunately, around the same time, MARA suspended sponsorships for students pursuing business, management and finance programmes overseas. My family simply could not afford the cost. The painful part was not that I had failed to qualify. I had been accepted. I simply wasn’t able to go.

At that time, studying overseas represented one of the biggest opportunities a young Malaysian could hope for. Naturally, I questioned why it had happened. Eventually, I accepted Allah’s decree and moved forward with life, trusting that He had a plan I simply could not understand at the time.

Today, I have no regrets about the path Allah chose for me because I now realise that had I gone to the United States then, my life might have unfolded very differently.

Perhaps I would never have worked in the stockbroking industry before leaving to start my own business. Perhaps I would never have experienced the failures that became some of my greatest teachers. Perhaps I would never have helped build a sales and marketing organisation from 2001, eventually leading projects as Organisational Head Malaysia in 2006.

Perhaps I would never have founded RichWorks in 2008. More importantly, perhaps I would never have met the thousands of entrepreneurs who have become such an important part of my life’s journey, nor experienced the challenges that shaped me into the person I am today.

Looking back, I can clearly see that Allah was not denying me something better. He was preparing me for a different assignment.

Although I accepted Allah’s decree, I never truly let go of the dream of studying at a world-class university. Deep inside, I continued believing that if Allah willed it, the opportunity would eventually come. That opportunity presented itself unexpectedly three years ago during a visit to Manchester.

While driving to the Etihad Stadium for a Coldplay concert, we happened to pass The University of Manchester. Looking at the campus, I turned to my wife and said that perhaps I should finally submit an application. Almost immediately, another question crossed my mind: “Azizan, you’ve spent years saying you wanted to study here, but have you ever actually tried?”

The honest answer was no.

It became clear that the biggest limitation had never been the university, my qualifications or even my age. The greatest limitation was the assumption I had carried for years that I was no longer qualified to dream that dream. So I submitted my application, fully prepared to accept rejection if it came, because I realised that living with rejection is far easier than living with regret.

Not long after returning to Malaysia, I received the news that changed everything. I had been accepted into the programme, and Allah opened a door that I had already convinced myself was permanently closed.

As I prepare to attend today’s graduation ceremony, I realise that the dream itself never disappeared. I was simply the one who almost buried it with my own doubts and assumptions.

After mentoring entrepreneurs for almost two decades, I have come to realise that this happens far more often than people think. Many individuals do not stop short because they lack intelligence, capability or opportunity. They stop because they quietly decide that something is impossible long before life has ever made that decision for them.

Our circumstances may influence our journey, but they should never become the final authority over our future. As Muslims, we believe that Allah’s plans are always better than our own. Tawakkul does not mean abandoning our dreams. It means continuing to prepare ourselves, continuing to strive with excellence and trusting that Allah’s timing will always be more perfect than ours.

Sometimes the delay is not because Allah is withholding the blessing. Sometimes He is preparing us to become the person capable of carrying it.

As I walk into this graduation ceremony today, I feel immense gratitude—not simply because I am receiving another MBA, but because this journey has reminded me that dreams rarely die on their own. More often, they are buried by our own assumptions before Allah has even answered them.

Alhamdulillah for this milestone. By His permission, the journey of learning continues with another MBA at Fudan University in China and, Insha-Allah, the completion of my PhD at Universiti Putra Malaysia.

The pursuit of knowledge has never been about collecting qualifications. It has always been about becoming a better leader, a better mentor and, above all, a better servant of Allah.

Datuk Wira