INGENIEUR
Message to Engineering Graduates & Young Engineers
INGENIEUR
were in a dismal state and had a low level of professional expertise . Seeing the need for improvement , Tan Sri initiated several capacity development initiatives in collaboration with Indah Water Konsortium ( IWK ) and the Federal Sewerage Regulatory ( JPP ), including :
● A comprehensive training programme for IWK professionals from 1995 for about 10 years
● A co-ordinated and structured research for water / wastewater industry in resources recovery , basically ‘ waste to wealth ’ in a collaboration agreement between MWA , IWK , JPP and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia .
A paper on ‘ Establishing a River Management Board in Selangor ’ presented by Tan Sri at a workshop organised by the Selangor Government in 1998 was accepted as a basis for the formation of Lembaga Urus Air Selangor ( LUAS ) or Selangor Water Management Authority in 2000 . Tan Sri was appointed by the Selangor Government in 2000 as LUAS Board Member .
LUAS sets a good example of a well organised water resources management in Malaysia . It ensures that the State ’ s water resources including river basins , ground and surface water , lakes , ponds and former mines as well as the Selangor State coastline are in good condition . This is implemented through Integrated River Basin Management and Integrated Coastal Management approaches . With many stakeholders , this also requires close collaboration among Federal , State , local Government , NGOs and community groups for effective operation , and in dealing with emergency and crisis events .
As a Fellow of the Academy of Science Malaysia in 2010 , Tan Sri promoted water demand management practices , including non-revenue water reduction in the country . Working at the policy level , he represents the Academy at the EPU meeting on National Agenda for the Water Sector Transformation to 2040 ( WST 2040 ) beginning with Phase 1 ( 2021-2025 ).
Looking back , Tan Sri graduated from Plymouth College of Technology , UK in 1963 with a Diploma in Civil Engineering . He is a Professional Engineer and was a member of the Board of Engineers between 1988 and 1994 . Tan Sri holds many positions in local and foreign institutions . Internationally , he is a Fellow of the Institution of
Message to Engineering Graduates & Young Engineers
Engineers must avoid being regarded as ‘ backroom people ’ at all time . Therefore , young engineers , during the early days of their careers should master what they had learned in engineering schools and apply to the real world . By so doing , they become “ hands-on engineers ”. Next they should try to learn every aspect of engineering in one of two specialised fields . This will make them to become a complete engineer .
While specialising in engineering , they must start picking-up other traits involving legal , finance , administration , management and social acquaintances . This will make the young engineers became- a complete competent person driving them towards leaderships roles .
Communication skills is also very essential for success and that is both oral and written . The ability of young engineers to introduce new ideas , style and vision will be crucial in getting across rights messages for progressive changes and development .
Finally , young engineers should always be mindful of all good towards people and planet taking account environment , social governance to benefit mankind and the world we live in . This could be achieved by joining group voluntary participation organised by NGOs and statutory bodies during any spare time available . Such effort would be noticed and taken as positive contribution to the nation .
An evening with Tan Sri
8 VOL 95 JULY-SEPTEMBER 2023