Handle knowledge with care, advises Ambassador

15 Sri Lankan students graduate from AIT H.E. Prof. J.B. Disanayaka, Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Thailand advised students to use knowledge carefully and handle it with care. The Ambassador was delivering the graduation address at the 113th graduation of the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) in Thailand.

15 students from Sri Lanka graduated from AIT this semester. A  total of seven Sri Lankans won 8 of AIT’s 34 academic awards. So far 838 students have graduated from AIT since 1961.

In his graduation address delivered on 26 May 2010, H.E. Prof Disanayaka remarked that 

knowledge could be used to make life easier, efficient and comfortable. However, it could 

also be used to make life difficult, more uncomfortable and disastrous. "The choice of 

using or abusing knowledge is entirely ours," he remarked.

The Ambassador reminded everyone that most of the disasters that one faces today are 

"either due to lack of knowledge or due to abuse of knowledge." He described drought as a 

disaster triggered by human desires, since it was a logical culmination of acts of 

deforestation engineered by human beings who seek personal monetary gains at the expense 

of public good. The worst of disasters are purely manmade, he said while listing 

terrorism, communalism, religious fanaticism, civil war, pollution, poverty, inflation, 

epidemics and human trafficking among others.

The Ambassador stated that moral or ethical values are neither Buddhist nor Christian, 

neither Hindu nor Islamic. They are neither Eastern nor Western and they are not the sole 

property of any religion, culture, community or nation.

He advised graduates to use knowledge and wisdom to make the world a better place to 

live, where all beings, can coexist in peace, harmony and dignity. Describing graduates 

as "leaders of the future", the Ambassador concluded, "Make the Asian Institute of 

Technology feel proud of you."

Speaking at the graduation ceremony AIT President, Prof. Said Irandoust remarked that AIT 

looks forward towards a bright future full of opportunities for its graduates. The 

president remarked that problems and challenges are not limited to the boundaries of any 

particular country and have become more crossborder, regional and global. "This convinces 

me even more strongly in the mission of AIT," he remarked.

Five hundred and thirty-four students received their degrees at the 113th Graduation 

Ceremony of the Asian Institute of Technology on 26 May 2010. Thirty-one students 

received doctoral degrees while the others received Master's degrees.

Delegates and dignatories who attended the Graduation Ceremony included Dr. Tej Bunnag, 

Chairman, AIT Board of Trustees; Mrs. Kusum R. Disanayaka; H.E. Mr. Sohail Mahmood, 

Ambassador, Embassy of Pakistan and H.E. Mr. Kazi Imtiaz Hossain, Ambassador, Embassy of Bangladesh.