INGENIEUR
BEM celebrates its 50 th Anniversary
ANNIVERSARY
BEM began the celebration of its 50th Anniversary starting July 2022 with a hive of activities lined up to commemorate its founding in 1972 . What started with 72 registered persons in 1972 had swelled to 221,999 persons by July 2022 making BEM the largest professional regulatatory body in the country .
BEM had chosen the title ‘ Crossing the Half Century Line ’ for the BEM 50 th Anniversary Commemorative Book to reflect on its past effort in uplifting the standard and branding of the engineering profession that has earned its place in the international engineering professional enclave such as the International Engineering Alliance .
BEM has also made engineering education its rallying call , and taken important strides to lift the quality of Malaysian engineering education through accreditation effort to become a signatory of the Washington , Sydney and Dublin Accords . This has helped Malaysia grow to become the regional hub of engineering education in the Asia- Pacific region and beyond .
It is also timely that BEM had set its sight to map out its ‘ BEM Strategic Plan 2021 -2025 ’ to revisit its vision as ‘ an authoritative body of international standing that regulates the engineering practices in Malaysia ’. This strategy is underscored by the drive for engineering excellence and competence among its registered persons .
BEM 50 th Anniversary Dinner
The BEM 50 th Anniversary Dinner was held on August 20 , 2022 at the Royale Chulan Hotel Kuala Lumpur with 600 attendees . The response was overwhelming and many requests for seats had to be turned away due to the limited capacity of the hotel hall . The Guest of Honour was the then Prime Minister , YAB Dato ’ Seri Ismail Sabri bin Yaakob , with the presence of Senior Minister of Works , YB Dato ’ Sri Haji Fadillah bin Haji Yusof .
BEM President , Dato ’ Seri Ir . Haji Mohamad Zulkefly bin Sulaiman in his welcoming speech expressed his gratitude to the contribution of BEM past and present board members and management in building up BEM from a small entity to the present body registering over 220,000 registered persons . BEM is part of the International Engineering Alliance and a signatory to the Washington Accord , Sydney Accord and Dublin Accord .
The Prime Minister in his speech touched specifically on the plight of ‘ Jurutera Miskin ’ which was a hot topic in the media . BEM had in fact presented its findings on its website after a detailed survey was conducted to address the engineering profession ’ s remuneration taking cognisance of their significant contribution to the nation ’ s growth . The Prime Minister also expressed his appreciation for BEM ’ s initiative in creating the online submission of the Certificate of Completion and Compliance ( CCC ) as the final process of property development . This is a big step forward on the self-regulation of property development which will improve the nation ’ s score of ease of doing business under the World Bank ranking .
The BEM 50 th Anniversary Commemorative Book was launched , followed by the presentation of awards for Anugerah Tokoh Kejuruteraan Malaysia BEM and Anugerah Tokoh Muda Kejuruteraan Malaysia BEM .
This was followed by the presentation of the BEM-ECP Safety , Health and Environment Excellence Award ( BESHEXA ).
42 VOL 92 OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2022