As promised in my Presidential Address (Loo pl put a hyperlink to file Presidential Address-2008.doc) during the last AGM, I am now launching a President’s Blog. This Blog will allow for me to update members on matters of interest regarding IEM and the engineering profession as well as to solicit feedback from members.
Blogging has become the in-thing, and we have see how even the politicians have already begun to start their own blogs as they begin to realise the power and reach of the Internet. In fact, after the last general election, we have seen bloggers becoming Members of Parliament, and we have also seen ex-Menteri Besar and ex-Members of Parliament becoming bloggers.
In my Presidential Address entitled “From Nation Builders to Nation Movers”, I looked at how it was the engineers who played a key role in bringing our nation from a developing country in 1957 to where we are today. The primary driver in our country’s journey to become a developed nation was the engineers who bore the brunt of the efforts to modernize Malaysia. If there were no engineers, we would today be no better off than how we were 52 years back.
Given that the engineers played such an important role in nation building, one would expect to see the status and standing of the engineer to be second to none, and that the young would put engineering as their top career choice. Sadly this has not come to pass. So herein lies our dilemma - what do we need to do to redress the situation?
I then advocated that we engineers need to change our role from nation builders to become nation movers. A nation builder is in a sense a mere service provider, in this case providing the necessary engineering input as part of a bigger process. A nation mover on the other hand, will manoeuvre to be right at the centre of the process, to provide the direction and become the vital cog.
As we embark on this journey of change, we have to work towards making improvements in a number of areas such as :
• Educating from young
• Improving the training of engineers
• Encouraging a better gender ratio in engineering
Our society lack awareness and appreciation of science and technology, and there is an urgent need to revamp our education system to cultivate greater interest in science and technology from young. Similarly, at the tertiary level, there is a need to review course contents and study load. Our universities are churning out technically competent engineers with good technical knowledge but weak interpersonal skills, especially in communication. Not many engineers speak and write well, and many would be very nervous if they are required to speak in public.
With regards to gender, we need to change the public perception that the engineering profession is exclusive to males. In science and technology, it is brain power and not brawn power that is crucial. Although the number of lady engineers is probably improving every year, it is still small compared to many other professions. IEM must now reach out and get more women to join engineering, for after all, women make up half the country’s population and our profession would be so much the loser if we do not tap this half of our brightest talents.
I have in the course of my term as President met with the other professional institutions and they have expressed surprise to learn that IEM has yet to have its first Lady President. Of our sister institutions in the building industry PAM has had a Lady President, while the ISM will be getting its first Lady President soon.
I look forward to receiving some comments from members - both regarding my Presidential Address as well as the gender issue, and I hope in our coming election, we will see more candidates of the fairer sex.
KA
Blogging has become the in-thing, and we have see how even the politicians have already begun to start their own blogs as they begin to realise the power and reach of the Internet. In fact, after the last general election, we have seen bloggers becoming Members of Parliament, and we have also seen ex-Menteri Besar and ex-Members of Parliament becoming bloggers.
In my Presidential Address entitled “From Nation Builders to Nation Movers”, I looked at how it was the engineers who played a key role in bringing our nation from a developing country in 1957 to where we are today. The primary driver in our country’s journey to become a developed nation was the engineers who bore the brunt of the efforts to modernize Malaysia. If there were no engineers, we would today be no better off than how we were 52 years back.
Given that the engineers played such an important role in nation building, one would expect to see the status and standing of the engineer to be second to none, and that the young would put engineering as their top career choice. Sadly this has not come to pass. So herein lies our dilemma - what do we need to do to redress the situation?
I then advocated that we engineers need to change our role from nation builders to become nation movers. A nation builder is in a sense a mere service provider, in this case providing the necessary engineering input as part of a bigger process. A nation mover on the other hand, will manoeuvre to be right at the centre of the process, to provide the direction and become the vital cog.
As we embark on this journey of change, we have to work towards making improvements in a number of areas such as :
• Educating from young
• Improving the training of engineers
• Encouraging a better gender ratio in engineering
Our society lack awareness and appreciation of science and technology, and there is an urgent need to revamp our education system to cultivate greater interest in science and technology from young. Similarly, at the tertiary level, there is a need to review course contents and study load. Our universities are churning out technically competent engineers with good technical knowledge but weak interpersonal skills, especially in communication. Not many engineers speak and write well, and many would be very nervous if they are required to speak in public.
With regards to gender, we need to change the public perception that the engineering profession is exclusive to males. In science and technology, it is brain power and not brawn power that is crucial. Although the number of lady engineers is probably improving every year, it is still small compared to many other professions. IEM must now reach out and get more women to join engineering, for after all, women make up half the country’s population and our profession would be so much the loser if we do not tap this half of our brightest talents.
I have in the course of my term as President met with the other professional institutions and they have expressed surprise to learn that IEM has yet to have its first Lady President. Of our sister institutions in the building industry PAM has had a Lady President, while the ISM will be getting its first Lady President soon.
I look forward to receiving some comments from members - both regarding my Presidential Address as well as the gender issue, and I hope in our coming election, we will see more candidates of the fairer sex.
KA
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