Malaysian Society for Engineering & Technology 15th ISSUE OCT - DEC 2012

Engineering Technology : Engineering Technology was first offered as an educational degree programme in the United States in 1952, immediately after the 2nd World War. The B.S. degree in Engineering Technology at Texas A&M, received accreditation from Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) in 1975. In the United Kingdom, the polytechnics have traditionally been offering industry biased engineering degree programmes but was converted by the British government into universities, thereby losing their industry emphasis. With the introduction of the 4-year M.Eng. degree programmes, the 3-year B.Eng. programme became qualification for entry into the Incorporated Engineer category in the United Kingdom. In Australia, the B.Tech. degree programmes have been offered for some time to train technologists. In Europe practical oriented engineers are produced by special institutions of higher learning such as the Fachhochschule in Germany and IIUT in France.

The Sydney Accord was initiated to establish an international benchmarking for engineering technology qualification and has developed statements of graduate attributes and professional competency profiles. The Engineering Technologist Mobility Forum (ETMF) was established to encourage engineering technologist mobility at the international level and to enable them to qualify for the international register. In Malaysia, the government was attracted to the idea of producing practical oriented engineers to assist in the development of the country and four new Technical University Colleges (KUKUM in Perlis, KuiTTHO in Johor, KUTKM in Melaka and KUKTEM in Pahang) were set up and modeled on the German Fachhochschule. However these university colleges later chose to forsake the original idea and became normal universities by offering B.Eng. programmes instead of B.Eng.Tech. programmes (They are now known as UniMAP in Perlis, UTHM in Johor, UTeM in Melaka and UMP in Pahang).About at the same time, Universiti Kuala Lumpur (UniKL) was established in 2002 to produce engineering technologists. UniKL presently offers 32 B.Eng.Tech. programmes and all of them had received accreditation from Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA). In 2011, under the directive from Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE), the above four technical universities

collectively known as MTUN (Malaysian Technical University Network) started offering B.Eng.Tech. programmes in various specializations, in order to fulfill their original objectives.

Malaysia through the Ministry of Higher Education has made accreditation as compulsory for any programmes to be offered in the country. Accreditation of programmes has been consolidated under the Malaysia Qualification Act 2007 where the Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA) has been tasked to undertake accreditation. However the Act has the provision that accreditation of professional programmes would be undertaken by professional bodies in the country. As for engineering the Board of Engineers Malaysia (BEM) is the professional body responsible. The BEM through its delegated body the Engineering Accreditation Council (EAC) (comprising representatives of the BEM, IEM, MQA, JPA and the industry) has been in operation since 2000. At the moment Engineering Technology and unrecognized engineering (three years) programmes are accredited by the MQA.

The BEM is in the process of reviewing its Act recently and in principle acknowledged the need to register the Engineering Technologist. If the Act is revised to incorporate registration of the Engineering Technologists, accreditation of Engineering Technology programmes would be under the purview of the BEM. In fact BEM had formed a team to propose the establishment of the Engineering Technology Accreditation Council (ETAC) under BEM and are in the process of preparing the accreditation manual for the accreditation of B.Eng.Tech. programmes. Graduates from the accredited Engineering Technology programmes could then be registered as graduate Engineering Technologist with the BEM.

At the same time, Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) had proposed a new parliament Act known as Technologists and Technicians Bill which is now at the final stage before it is tabled to the Cabinet and Parliament for approval. Under this proposed new Act the Malaysia Board of Technologists (MBOT) will be established. This Act also proposed to establish ETAC as similarly proposed by BEM. There should be only one ETAC, it can be under MBOT or BEM or jointly owned. The final decision should be made

by the higher authority or the government. Malaysia has several professional bodies that are responsible for the engineering team. The BEM is a body that register engineers and responsible for public safety. The Institution of Engineers Malaysia (IEM) on the other hand is a learned body mainly for engineers. The Malaysian Society for Engineering and Technology (MySET) is the learned body and open her membership to the engineering team, and modeled after the Institution of Electrical Engineers and Technologist (IET) of the United Kingdom. Technical Association of Malaysia (TAM) is a body that represents the engineering technicians, though members are also drawn from the engineers rank. The proposed MBOT will be the professional body for the Technologists and Technicians.

Despite the importance of Engineering Technology, it appears to lose appeal amongst students in the US, UK and Australia. It was observed that Engineering Technology programmes have reduced in numbers in these countries. However practical oriented engineering training appears to remain strong in Europe.

Considering the importance of Engineering Technology in the development of the country’s industry and economy, Engineering Technologists should be able to be registered in BEM or MBOT or both to enable articulation of engineering technologists to become Professional Engineering Technologists or even Professional Engineers.

Prof. Dr. Wan Mohammad Wan AbdullahMySET Vice President

The Way Forward

21st Century ProfessionalsNewsletter

For Members Only2421-07-WKL

Inside This Issue:Opinion Column 1 Feature Article 6 - 7Editor’s Note 2 Future Events 8Highlight 2 Contact Us 8Past Events 3 - 5

PRIDE Robotic CompetitionSee more on Page 4

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Dear members,

Welcome to the 15th issue of the 21st Century Professionals Newsletter.

This issue marks the final newsletter for 2012; how fast time flies. We hope you have had a very fruitful year.

In this issue we feature an opinion column written by Professor Dr. Wan Mohammad Wan Abdullah, one of MySET’s Vice President and the Chairman for MySET’s Standing Committee on Admission, Examination, Accreditation and Certification (AEAC). Prof. Dr. Wan Mohammad gives a timely overview on the status of engineering technology in Malaysia and the possible way forward for the professional development of engineering technologists.

We also cover various national events that have recently been organized by MySET, mainly the RoboticsAsia2012 held in Technology Park Malaysia and IRIS2012 held in Kuching, Sarawak.

Finally I would like to thank Mr. Ahmad Syihan for his contribution for the feature article in this issue entitled, “Pendidikan Bercorak Teknikal dan Latihan Vokasional (TEVT) di Malaysia”. MySET would like to call upon more members to actively participate in contributing interesting articles for our newsletter, be it in Bahasa Malaysia or English.

We hope you enjoy this issue!

Warm regards,

SurayaAssoc. Prof. Dr. Suraya Abdul RashidChief Editor

Editor’s Note Editorial BoardNewsletter

AdvisorProf. Dato’ Abang Abdullah Abang Ali

Chief EditorAssoc. Prof. Dr. Suraya Abdul Rashid

Co - EditorsAssoc. Prof. Dr. Siti Mazlina Mustapa Kamal

Safuan Ramlan

SERDANG, SEPT. 26, 2012: The Malaysian Society for Engineering and Technology (MySET) today aired its major concern on behalf of its 8800 members on the worrying property market scenario in the country. MySET is calling upon the government to take all possible steps in helping curb speculation, which is a major reason for the spiralling increase in property prices.

“ The Real Property Gain Tax (RPGT) needs to be increased from 10% to 20% for transactions within the first 2 years and 15% for transactions between 2 to 5 years, with no RPGT after 5 years to discourage speculation on property in the country. Otherwise, the property speculators cannot be checked,” said Prof Dato’Abang Abdullah Abang Ali, the President of MySET, a professional body representing interests of engineers and technologists in the country.

He felt that housing developers would not be seriously affected in the long run as the impact on the property market is meant to control the property speculators. The demand for quality and affordable housing is still very high from first time home- buyers who are now renting homes.

“MySET also recommends to the government that housing developers pay for the stamp duty instead of first time home- buyers to ease the burden on first time buyers,” he continued.

On financing- related issues, Prof. Dato’ Abang Abdullah strongly recommends a maximum interest rate at 4% for first-time home-buyers amongst government employees and 5% for non-government employees. He said that the first time home-buyers usually require a 95% loan with a repayment period extended to 65 years of age.

“Residential properties need to be priced within the affordability range

of the first-time home-buyers. The Government should introduce build and sell affordable housing schemes for low-cost homes and for homes ranging between RM 250,000 to RM 500,000,” he added.

“MySET calls upon the government to introduce quota for all property developers to meet the housing needs within an affordable price range for the rakyat,” he said.

“Under the Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) programme foreigners can only buy properties priced over RM 1 million and should not be allowed to buy properties competing with the local first-time home-buyers. The limited land supply that we have in cities like Kuala Lumpur should not cater for the needs of foreign buyers at the expense of the locals,” he stressed.

MySET strongly advocates that the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment faciltate a special R&D fund for in-depth research on affordable, quality housing and industrialised building systems to accelerate the development and discovery of new technologies and approaches. The R&D allocation by CIDB through CREAM is limited compared to the amount allocated to other research thrust areas in the country.

MySET believes there are available technologies as well as an urgent need to develop new cost-effective and efficient technologies and techniques in housing development and construction that can help realise our dream of affordable, quality housing for all in the country.

Prof. Dato Abang Abdullah also called for the establishment of the Malaysian Housing Research Institute, as Malaysia remains amongst the few countries in the developed world without a proper housing research institute.

HIGHLIGHT: Press ReleaseMySET Calls For Affordable Quality Housing

Property market speculation needs to be urgently addressed in 2013 Budget

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The RoboticsAsia2012 conference was held successfully in Technology Park Malaysia on the 10th of July 2012. The event which started at 8.00am was attended by approximately 100 participants of which 40% were from the academics, 30% from industry and 30% from government cluster.

At 10.00am in the morning, RoboticsAsia 2012 was officially opened by the Deputy Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, YB Datuk Haji Fadilah Yusof. Among the guests-of-honour present were Prof. Dato’ Abang Abdullah bin Abang Ali as the President of Malaysian Society for Engineering and Technology (MySET), Prof. Engr. Dr. Ishkandar Baharin as the Chairperson of myRAig, Prof. Kazuhiro Kosuge as the keynote speaker from Tohoku University Japan, Datuk Razali Hussain the CEO of Malaysian Productivity Corporation (MPC), Pn. Fadilah binti Baharin, the Director General of Standards Malaysia, and Mr. Ehsan Mihankhah, the Chairperson of Robocup Iran Open and also the Technical Chair of Robocup International, Atlanta, the USA.

The myRAig Robotic Platform, MYRO was also launched by the Deputy Minister after the opening ceremony. This was followed by the keynote presentation by Prof Kazuhiro Kosuge on ‘Recent and Emerging Developments of Robotics & Automation Technology for Asia’. The other presentations of the day were given by international speakers Dr Liu Zhongjie from Japan, Dr. Richard Fan and Dr. Ang Zhou from China, Mr Ehsan Mihankhah from Iran. Dr. Hanafiah Yussof from UiTM’s research presentation was also given by his representative on that day.

At 12noon, a roundtable discussion was facilitated by Prof. Engr. Dr. Ishkandar and also Dr. Mohamad Zaihirain Mohamed Rasin from Technology Park Malaysia. The discussion was very successful in acquiring insight into various issues that concern the various clusters involved in robotics and automation in the country.

Other notable representatives at the event were;

1. Delegates from MOSTI led by the Deputy Under Secretary of Industrial Relation, Mr Abang Othman

2. Delegates from Jabatan Politeknik led by Mr. Syaiful Afdzan3. Delegates from German Malaysian Institute led by En. Syed Nizam bin

Syed Idris4. Delegates from UniKL Malaysian France Institute.5. Delegates from OTH Malaysia led by Mr. Tamio Kaneda, OTC Daihen

Japan6. Mr. Chu Chee Seng, Managing Director of Vepro Group Sdn Bhd7. Mr. Lee Kok Soong, National Manager of Festo Malaysia Sdn Bhd8. Mr. Frankie Tiong, Maplesoft principal representative of ASEAN region9. Delegates from ABB Malaysia led by Mr Steven Lim

The event was successfully ended at 5pm after Prof. Engr. Dr. Ishkandar Baharin gave his closing remark.

10 July 2012 | Technology Park Malaysia RoboticsAsia2012Editorial Board

14 July 2012 | Raja Musa Forest Reserve, Selangor

Annual Tree Planting Campaign

The Annual Tree Planting Programme was supported by MySET and it was participated by volunteer students from UCSI University under the guidance of Ir. Ahmad bin Tamby Kadir, Head of Civil Engineering Department and MySET Vice President. The half day programme started with the briefing from the Global Environment Centre (GEC) representative and later the tree planting programme. There was also a report coverage by TV Al-Hijrah later to the programme.

Raja Musa Forest Reserve is located near Batang Berjuntai/ Berjuntai Bestari in the northern region of the Selangor State. Together with Sungai Karang Forest Reserve, it makes up the largest peat swamp forest complex in Selangor.

Peatland rehabilitation is one of the important activities at Raja Musa Forest Reserve aimed at conserving the various species of peatswamp and restoring the deteriorated area to its former glory; retaining the original characteristics of the peatland forest. The first objective of the replanting is to stop peatland fires and haze and help prevent global warming and create forest cover which further prevents encroachment into the forest, thus reducing the risk of fire. This activity was created to provide hands-on experience on conservation and a great opportunity to explore and to know better the importance and function of the Raja Musa Forest Reserve.

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4 - 6 September 2012 | Kuching, Sarawak IRIS2012

IRIS2012 ConferenceFollowing the success of RoboticsAsia Conference 2012 on the 10th of

July 2012, IRIS was successfully held from the 4-6 September in Kuching, Malaysia. The event was attended by approximately 400 participants. The event was officiated by YB Dato Seri Michael Manyin anak Jawong, Minister of Infrastructure and Communication of Sarawak.

PRIDEIn conjunction with IRIS, PRIDE Robotics Competition was also held in

Kuching from the 4-6 of September. It was attended by over 10 teams from local and international organizations.

AET WorkshopThe Advanced Engineering Technology Workshop was also held at the

same time. Among the speakers at the workshop are:1. Dr Ravinder S. Dahiya from Foundazione Bruno Kesseler, Italy2. Prof. Lakmal Seneviratne from King’s College, London3. Dr Nikolaos Mavridis from Interactive Robots and Media Lab, Abu

Dhabi4. Prof. Masahiro Ohka from Nagoya University, Japan5. Prof. Genci Capi from Toyoma University, Japan

Over 70 participants attended the various workshops.

NRX – National Robotics Exchange (Online Social Platform)

The National Robotics Exchange or NRX is the name given to myRAig’s new project. Under this project, myRAig will develop an online social platform for professionals who are involved in robotics and automation to communicate and exchange ideas and materials with each other. This project shall be privately funded, with the initial development fund of RM 24,000.00 from Simnet Pte Ltd, Singapore.

RTDC – Robotics Technology Development CentreRTDC has kick-off on the 1st of September 2012. The objective of RTDC

is to map out the process to design and manufacture a high-technology commercial grade machine locally here in Malaysia. A white-paper will be produced at the end of the project to clearly explain the process of designing and manufacturing and also the obstacles, problems and challenges in such an endeavour here in Malaysia and how to overcome them. A total of 6 team members are involved in this project, consisting of local industrial attachment students and experts in respective fields, which will be joint-funded by myRAig and private companies involved. At the moment, the

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18 September 2012 | Bandar Melaka, Melaka Talk on MySET

MySET was given the opportunity for a Talk session at Politeknik Melaka on 18 September 2012. The invitation was given by the Politeknik Director through their Alumni Unit. The talk session was in conjunction with their alumni unit talk and their graduate tracking unit talk and it took place at the Lecture Hall 1, Politeknik Melaka. The audience consisted of Politeknik Melaka staff and final year students of the institute. The session started with student registration at 2.00 PM followed by the alumni talk by the Alumni Officer for Politeknik Melaka at 2.10 PM. The session continued with the talk on graduate tracking by the Graduate Tracking Unit Officer at 2.30

PM. At 3.00 PM, MySET Vice President, Ir. Ahmad bin Tamby Kadir was invited to give the talk on MySET. With a crowd of around 50, their response was very good and the talk ended around 3.30 PM to allow time for the membership registration session.

It was a great experience having final year student and Staff of the Politeknik gather around to hear the talk. We hope that these kinds of programmes will help the society grow as well publicise our strength in helping the country grow as a developed nation.

sponsors in this project are Maltool Industries Sdn Bhd (a local high-duty circular saw manufacturer) based in Sungai Buloh, Simnet Pte Ltd (a software company) based in Singapore, and Formahero Machinery Sdn Bhd (a local industrial machine assembler) based in Rawang.

MYROThe feedback from participants in RoboticsAsia 2012 has been very

positive regarding MYRO. Following up from there, learning materials and training modules are currently being developed to be archived at myRAig with the hope that when it is ready, this technology can be shared with the national robotics and automation community. This is anticipated to be very beneficial to myRAig especially with its latest initiatives to jointly organize FIRA (Federation of International Robotics Association) with Jabatan Politeknik Malaysia at the end of next year as well as for several national and international level initiatives in robotics such as Robocon, National Robotics Olympiads, and International Robotics Olympiad which will be held in Malaysia.

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di Malaysia

Pendidikan Bercorak Teknikal dan Latihan Vokasional (TEVT)

SejarahApabila Kesatuan Soviet (USSR) berjaya melancarkan Sputnik ke

angkasa pada dekad 50an, Amerika Syarikat (AS) sebagai ketua blok Demokrasi mula meragui sistem pendidikan tinggi negaranya. Lantaran itu, AS merombak kembali sistem pendidikan tinggi sains dan kejuruteraan di universitinya dengan menambah lebih banyak subjek berteraskan sains, matematik dan penyelidikan dalam pengajiaannya. Graduan program ini dikenali sebagai Jurutera Saintifik atau Saintis.

Hasilnya amat mengagumkan, AS berjaya menaikkan kembali imej dan reputasinya selepas Neil Armstrong berjaya mendarat ke bulan. Itu adalah senario perlumbaan angkasa yang melibatkan sains dan teknologi di antara Blok Sosialis-Komunis dengan Blok Demokrasi sekitar Perang Dingin dahulu. Ketika itu, graduan AS diterima baik di dalam pasaran kerja sains dan teknologi yang melibatkan Penyelidikan dan Pembangunan (R&D) terutamanya di NASA dan syarikat-syrikat pertahanan yang besar. Semakin lama, bilangan syarikat sains dan teknologi di Amerika semakin bertambah dan kebanyakan syarikat ini menuntut tenaga kerja dari graduan yang berkemahiran serta ‘siap pasang’ di industri. Ini bagi mengurangkan kos mereka melatih tenaga kerja yang baru untuk menyesuaikan diri di dalam iklim pekerjaan sebenar. Oleh itu, Amerika mula merekabentuk program ijazah berteraskan kemahiran yang dipanggil Teknologi Kejuruteraan. Graduan program ini pula dipanggil Teknologis ataupun Jurutera Berkemahiran Praktikal.

Perbezaan Pendidikan KejuruteraanPerbezaan ketara antara kedua program ini adalah Kejuruteraan

berteraskan teori, saintifik, penyelidikan dan calculus based (penekanan dan aplikasi terhadap sains dan matematik pada peringkat tinggi). Program Teknologis pula lebih berorientasikan kepada kemahiran praktikal, senggaraan dan algebra based (penekanan dan aplikasi terhadap sains dan matematik pada peringkat sederhana) serta pengajiannya lebih singkat berbanding program Kejuruteraan biasa.

Kebanyakan negara maju seperti Amerika, Britain dan German mempunyai sistem pendidikan tinggi di dalam bidang kejuruteraan yang berasaskan saintifik dan juga di dalam bidang teknologi kejuruteraan yang berasaskan kepada kemahiran praktikal. Di negara tersebut, lepasan dalam kedua-dua bidang ini mempunyai halatuju masing-masing; samaada untuk melanjutkan pengajian yang lebih tinggi, gaji dan kerjaya yang menarik serta Badan Profesional yang mengawalselia khidmat mereka. Mereka dilayan tanpa sebarang diskriminasi demi kemajuan tanah air mereka.

Perspektif MalaysiaMalaysia juga tidak ketinggalan. Menggunapakai model sistem

pendidikan FH (Fohhochschulen atau Politeknik atau Universiti Terapan) dari German, Universiti Tun Hussien Onn (UTHM) yang asalnya dari Politeknik Batu Pahat telah diwujudkan. Ia diwujudkan untuk mengeluarkan graduan siap pasang berkemahiran atau Teknologis untuk keperluan negara. Bersama-sama UTHM, beberapa Kolej Universiti yang dinaiktaraf seperti Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP), Universiti Teknikal Melaka (UTeM) dan Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UniMaP) telah diwujudkan selepas itu dan 4 buah institusi pengajian tinggi ini dikenali sebagai MTUN (Malaysia Technical University Nework). Amat menggembirakan apabila 4 buah MTUN ini telah diarahkan oleh kerajaan baru-baru ini agar kembali kepada halatuju asal kewujudannya iaitu mengeluarkan graduan Teknologis.

Dengan kewujudan pelbagai industri dan syarikat berasaskan sains dan teknologi di Malaysia kini, dirasakan bahawa pihak tersebut memerlukan ramai tenaga kerja dari graduan Teknologis yang berkemahiran serta dari graduan yang seimbang antara teori dan praktikal.

Badan Profesional Baru : Lembaga Teknologis Malaysia, MBoT

Umumnya di Malaysia, hanya graduan ijazah kejuruteraan dari program pengajian 4 tahun yang layak berdaftar dengan Lembaga Jurutera Malaysia (BEM). BEM pula diletakkan dibawah Kementerian Kerja Raya manakala Institusi Jurutera Malaysia (IEM) pula sebagai NGO berperanan sebagai institusi pembelajaran (learned institution) kepada ahli juruteranya untuk mengasah pengetahuan terkini mereka melalui penganjuran kursus dan seminar yang berkaitan kerjaya mereka.

Bagi lepasan sijil, diploma, diploma lanjutan dan ijazah dari pendidikan bercorak Teknikal dan Latihan Vokasional (TEVT) serta kemahiran yang merangkumi program teknologi kejuruteraan, teknologi maklumat dan sains gunaan, kerajaan dalam perancangan untuk menubuhkan Lembaga Teknologis Malaysia (MBoT) untuk mengawalselia kerjaya dan etika profesionalisme mereka sepertimana BEM. Berkemungkinan MBOT ini dibawah kendalian Kementerian Sains, Teknologi & Inovasi (MOSTI).

Penggabungan Malaysian Society for Engineering and Technology, mSET dan Malaysian Society for Engineering Technologists, MSET bagi membentuk Malaysian Society for Engineering and Technology (MySET) yang berperanan seperti IEM pula baru-baru ini adalah untuk memperjuangkan serta menghimpunkan lulusan sub professional dan professional di dalam bidang kejuruteraan, teknologi kejuruteraan, teknologi maklumat dan sains gunaan demi kepentingan strategik negara pada masa akan datang. MySET disarankan agar mengambil ahli bersekutunya dari kalangan kesatuan lain seperti Kesatuan Perkhidmatan Teknik Semenanjung Malaysia (MTSU). Ini kerana MTSU adalah kesatuan teknikal perkhidmatan awam yang terbesar di Malaysia yang menghimpunkan sub professional dari pelbagai perkhidmatan seperti kejuruteran, teknologi maklumat, sains, pertanian dan perikanan. Di dalam Perkhidmatan Awam Malaysia, skim perjawatan Kejuruteraan dinamakan sebagai ‘J’, skim

Teknologi Maklumat adalah ‘F’, skim Sains adalah ‘C’, skim Penyelidikan adalah ‘Q’ serta skim Pertanian dan Perikanan (akuakultur dan agro) dinamakan sebagai ‘G’.

Sub professional ini adalah golongan majoriti dan menjadi tulang belakang Perkhidmatan Awam negara. Sekiranya keahlian mereka di dalam MBoT dan MySET diwujudkan kelak,

profesionalisme golongan ini dapat ditingkatkan melalui penganjuran pelbagai kursus pembangunan profesional berterusan (Continuing Professional Development, CPD sepertimana yang telah dilakukan oleh BEM & IEM untuk para jurutera); sekaligus memberi nilai tambah terhadap mutu penyampaian dan hasil kerja Perkhidmatan Awam negara kepada masyarakat.

Sepertimana BEM yang telah menandatangani Washington Accord (WA), adalah menjadi keperluan utama agar Malaysia menandatangani Sydney Accord (SA) dan Dublin Accord (DA) supaya graduan teknologis kita ini diiktiraf diperingkat antarabangsa dari segi ilmu dan kompetensinya serta layak berkhidmat diserata dunia dengan tahap pendidikan masing-masing.

“Sub professional ini adalah golongan majoriti dan menjadi tulang belakang Perkhidmatan

Awam negara.”

Hari Terbuka Cadangan Penubuhan MBOT, Mac 21, 2012

Muka Depan Majalah TIME, Dis 6, 1968

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Universiti TEVT di MalaysiaPersepsi masyarakat yang mengatakan program berbentuk kemahiran

dan vokasional adalah untuk pelajar yang kurang cemerlang dan lemah harus dibetulkan segera. Bukan semua pelajar yang cemerlang meminati kursus yang berbentuk teori semata-mata. Lihatlah Wright Bersaudara yang terkenal dengan kapal terbangnya, Thomas Alva Edison yang membangunkan mentol lampu serta Steve Jobs yang telah merevolusikan penggunaaan komputer. Mereka ini tidak cemerlang pencapaian akademiknya tetapi inovasi dan jasa mereka banyak memberi manfaat kepada masyarakat. Penulis merasakan hanya segelintir sahaja lepasan SPM yang mendapat keputusan yang benar-benar cemerlang. Selebihnya adalah lepasan yang mendapat keputusan baik dan sederhana. Tidak semestinya majoriti mereka ini tidak boleh cemerlang sekiranya memasuki bidang teknikal dan latihan vokasional serta kemahiran ini. Selain itu, kebanyakan pelajar lelaki lebih suka mengambil pengajian berbentuk amali yang lasak, sesuai dengan fitrah mereka. Ini mungkin menyebabkan bilangan pelajar lelaki berkurangan setiap tahun di IPTA yang bercorak terlalu akademik dan teori berbanding pelajar perempuan.

Penulis berpendapat bahawa potensi mereka ini dapat digilap secara berperingkat (dari peringkat sijil hingga ke pasca ijazah) di dalam pendidikan teknologi kejuruteraan yang berasaskan TEVT dan kemahiran kerana ianya mengaplikasikan sains dan matematik pada peringkat sederhana. Ianya juga mampu menjadi batu loncatan bagi mengembangkan lagi budaya sains dan teknologi masyarakat kita.

Malaysia mempunyai sekolah beraliran kebangsaan yang menjadi simbol megah berdirinya Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Universiti Sains Malaysia yang menjadi simbol sekolah beraliran sains tulen serta Universiti Teknologi Malaysia yang menjadi kebanggaan pelajar dari sekolah aliran teknik. Bagi pelajar aliran TEVT di Sekolah Vokasional yang sejarah penubuhannya pada dekad 1920an, Universiti TEVT amatlah diharapkan.

Langkah kerajaan untuk menaiktaraf Politeknik sebagai Universiti berteraskan TEVT dan kemahiran menggambarkan kematangan sistem pengajian tinggi Malaysia bagi mencapai status negara maju berpendapatan tinggi. Ianya adalah tempat terbaik untuk menggilap dan membangunkan modal insan kebanyakan pelajar-pelajar kita dengan penekanan dan pendidikan latihan vokasional pada peringkat tinggi. Walaupun ada stigma negatif dan yang berpandangan elitis dari masyarakat kita berhubung langkah kerajaan ini, penulis merasakan langkah kerajaan ini adalah jalan terbaik kerana dengan status universiti ini, ianya akan dapat memperkayakan lagi budaya penyelidikan, inovasi serta sedikit sebanyak akan menyuburkan tradisi intelektual dengan acuannya yang tersendiri. Sejarah membuktikan bahawa kebanyakan universiti hebat kita hari ini asalnya dahulu adalah berstatus Kolej, Maktab, Institut dan Sekolah sahaja dan berperanan untuk mengeluarkan sumber manusia dengan kecekapan separa profesional tertentu. Sekadar perkongsian bersama, kebanyakan institusi pengajian tinggi kita dahulu pernah memberi laluan kepada pelajar yang sederhana pencapaian akademiknya. Sebagai contoh, Pengetua Kolej Pertanian (kini UPM) dahulu pernah melonggarkan beberapa syarat kemasukan (lihat: Biografi Rashdan Baba : Dari Menara Gading Ke Mercu Korporat, Penerbit UKM) ; ITM memberi peluang kepada pelajar menyambung ijazah berbekalkan SPM yang sederhana ( lihat artikel: Peperiksaaan Ganti Pendidikan dari Datuk Nordin Kardi, Utusan Malaysia) dan Pengetua Maktab Teknik (kini UTM) pernah melonggarkan syarat kemasukan (lihat: Koleksi Skrip Pengkisahan Kenegaraan 2004, terbitan Jabatan Penerangan Malaysia). Contoh-contoh tersebut membuktikan yang pelajar terdahulu yang berkeputusan sederhana mampu bangkit dan menjadi cemerlang sekiranya digilap dan diberikan sokongan yang jitu serta halatuju yang jelas. Penulis mengharapkan agar kerajaan menyediakan pendidikan sehingga ke peringkat kedoktoran serta menggunapakai Bahasa

Kebangsaan secara meluas sebagai medium pengajaran di universiti tersebut kelak. Pada hemat penulis, Universiti Politeknik berpaksikan TEVT ini juga harus mengadakan program pengajian serta fakulti berbentuk Sains Gunaan dan Matematik Gunaan bagi kelangsungan kewujudannya nanti. Ini kerana kebanyakan institusi pengajian tinggi yang terkenal dan yang menghasilkan penyelidikan terbaik kebiasaannya mempunyai fakulti sains yang hebat. Kewujudan fakulti Sains dan Matematik Gunaan tersebut juga dapat membimbing para penuntut sederhana ini dengan lebih konsisten.

Mengiktiraf Peranan Teknologis & Institusi TEVTDengan memberi beberapa laluan tersendiri kepada pendidikan

bercorak TEVT ini, sekurang kurangnya nisbah penyelidik, saintis, jurutera dan pakar teknikal negara dapat dipertingkatkan. MBoT yang berperanan mengawalselia sistem pendidikan dan kerjaya mereka kelak dapat membimbing dan mentauliahkan mereka secara profesional dan bersistematik melalui kursus, seminar, peperiksaan dan ujian kompetensi yang bakal diwujudkan nanti.

Sekiranya kerajaan benar-benar komited untuk membantu dan memperkasakan peranan Teknologis dan institusi TEVT, maka soal berkaitan gaji, kerjaya, pengiktirafan program pendidikan dan laluan untuk mereka ini melanjutkan pengajian tinggi hingga ke peringkat kedoktoran haruslah dirangka. Kini dengan kewujudan institusi teknikal, latihan dan kemahiran seperti 30 buah Politeknik, 4 buah MTUN, Universiti Kuala Lumpur (UniKL) , puluhan Institut Latihan Perindustrian (ILP), Pusat Latihan Pengajar & Kemahiran Lanjutan (CIAST), Pusat Latihan Teknologi Tinggi (ADTEC), Institut Kemahiran MARA (IKM), Kolej Kemahiran Tinggi MARA (KKTM), Institut Teknikal Jepun-Malaysia (JMTI), Institut Kemahiran Belia Negara (IKBN), Kolej Komuniti (KK) dan Institut Latihan Lanjutan Terengganu (TATIUC), penulis rasakan keperluan adalah terlalu mendesak untuk kita merenung kembali perkara ini. Kerajaan melalui Jabatan Perkhidmatan Awam (JPA) dan Suruhanjaya Perkhidmatan Awam (SPA) juga harus mengkaji kembali skim gaji dari lulusan sistem pendidikan TEVT ini dalam Perkhidmatan Awam. Sebagai contoh, lepasan sijil kejuruteraan TEVT di Perkhidmatan Awam hanya digajikan dengan skala gaji lepasan SPM, walaupun semenjak tahun tahun 1980an, JPA telah menetapkan kelayakan pengajian selama 2 tahun selepas SPM di Politeknik-Politeknik diletakkan di tanggagaji gred ‘27’ setaraf STPM, sepertimana yang tertakluk didalam Pekeliling Perkhidmatan Bil. 7 Tahun 1983 dan ‘Lampiran B3-Panduan Penggredan Semula Jawatan Selaras Dengan Perlaksanaan Sistem Saraan Malaysia Tahun 2002’.

PenutupKementerian Pengajian Tinggi yang menyelia IPTA, Kementerian

Pelajaran yang mengawasi Sekolah Teknik dan Vokasional (bakal ditransformasi sebagai Kolej Vokasional yang akan mengeluarkan Diplomanya sendiri), Kementerian Sumber Manusia yang memantau ILP, ADTEC, JMTI dan CIAST, Kementerian Belia & Sukan yang mengendalikan IKBN, Agensi MARA yang menubuhkan UniKL, IKM dan KKTM, Kementerian Kerja Raya, Kementerian Sains, Teknologi & Inovasi, Suruhanjaya Perkhidmatan Awam (SPA) serta Jabatan Perkhidmatan Awam (JPA) bersama-sama pihak pemerintah perlu berbincang dan memperhalusi setiap isu yang bakal timbul kelak bagi memartabatkan golongan yang dipanggil Teknologis ini.

Sayugia diingatkan bahawa pendidikan yang bercorak sains dan kejuruteraan termasuk latihan vokasional dan teknikal serta kemahiran adalah platform paling mantap bagi membentuk generasi muda. Ianya membuatkan seseorang individu itu lebih analitikal, kreatif dan logik serta menjadikan individu tersebut melihat sesuatu masalah tersebut secara menyeluruh, bukannya secara terpencil. Ianya memberikan seseorang individu itu asas yang kukuh untuk menjurus ke pelbagai bidang lain termasuklah sebagai usahawan dan pemikir.

Penulis amat berharap agar kerajaan benar-benar memartabatkan bukan sahaja graduan teknologis ini, malahan institusi yang melahirkan ahli teknologis tersebut demi kelangsungan kemajuan Malaysia.

Ahmad Syihan bin Abdul RashidMySET Member No: 01163Pekerjaan: Juruteknik Bahagaian Jalan JKR Perak , 10 tahun berkhidmat di JKR, Pendidikan : Sijil/Diploma Politeknik Ungku Omar & B.Eng (Civil) UTM.Email: syi_han@yahoo.com.my

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MySET SecretariatMalaysian Society for Engineering & Technology.Level 2 Block A Faculty of Engineering.Universiti Putra Malaysia 43400 UPM Serdang Selangor,MALAYSIA.

Event Details DatesACET2012Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 23 - 24 October 2012

AHAEXPO2012KLCC Convention Centre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 9 November 2012

2-Day Seminar on Affordable Quality Housing 2012Palace of Golden Horses Hotel, Selangor, Malaysia 20 - 21 November 2012

IFEE2012Putra World Trade Centre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 20 - 22 November 2012

CAFEi2012Palm Garden Hotel, Putrajaya, Malaysia 26 - 28 November 2012

1-Day Workshop On Submission to EACPalace of Golden Horses Hotel, Selangor, Malaysia 1 December 2012

2-Day Training Workshop On "Biogas For Future"Palace of Golden Horses Hotel, Selangor, Malaysia 1 – 2 December 2012

2nd Education SummitPalace of Golden Horses Hotel, Selangor, Malaysia 2 December 2012

WRICET2012Palace of Golden Horses Hotel, Selangor, Malaysia 3 – 6 December 2012

NAQH2012Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 17 – 19 December 2012

1-Day Workshop on Submission Requirement for Engineering ProjectKuala Lumpur, Malaysia January 2013

WEC2013Islamabad, Pakistan 20 – 22 March 2013

IntEC2013Cairo, Egypt October 2013

WHC2013Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia 2 – 4 December 2013

ICEE2013Madinah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia 16 – 18 December 2013

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