Observations, too...

Over the last three decades, we can observe that the engineering profession is quickly losing, or has lost, its lustre. When I was in my primaryschool days, I could feel the respect when my mother speaks about our backdoor neighbour who was an engineer with UDA, never mind the fact my schoolteacher parents could afford to have the exact same house as he did. (of which, I am proud of, Mak..;-) ) It was probably imprinted in my subconscious, that about 7 years after, subsequent to getting my SPM results, at our family meeting discussing my study and career options, despite my sense that my parents were hoping for the “doctor” answer, I suggested engineering with the excuse I am not much good at cutting up cadavers. If they were disappointed, they didn’t show it, and even went out of their way helping me get my TNB scholarship by meeting with Dr Salim Sairan (arwah now), Dato’ Rashid (unknowingly the father of my colleague here in SWF), En. Karim(!?) (curse on my memory lapses) and many others. Thanks again, Mak. (and abah, too, sorry I probably did not voice it out when you were around)

Since then, I have evolved into this super-rational human being, heard that people have said that I seem emotionally void at times, dungu at others, and being in the investment realm doesn’t help remedy that, instead it has probably accelerated the process further. But engineers have other redeeming features. We say it as it is. Although moving up the organizational pyramid and moving to the financial industries have seriously removed that from me. Okay, we are logical, able to spot gaps and issues and arrive to a conclusion quickly. Hmmm.. let’s not go there, as I certainly can not claim that as a personal virtue. Right, we inquire about the truth, and defend it to the hilt. Perhaps, moreso a long, long time ago, but especially not now in this industry where I’m still trying to find my footing.

But, back to my main point, why and where did engineers lose their attraction? The advent of IT was certainly a major factor. IT graduates commanded more pay, had better job offers and the industry shone brightly. In Malaysia, finance and banking industry boomed and grew by leaps and bounds in the last two decades aided by GOM’s drive to accelerate Malaysia’s economic growth. I know plenty of engineers in finance, and elsewhere, financial engineering has even been blamed for the unfolding economic crisis. It also became fashionable to import expertise from outside in developing Malaysia’s iconic buildings, Hijjaz Kasturi was probably the exception of a local who managed to swell his reputation despite the unfair global competition. FTAs and the WTOs will further liberalise these services sector, and the remaining engineering services providers will either become small-scale organizations living on scraps, or partners and sub-contractors of Aussie and New Zealand (!) engineering companies trying to enter our markets. (I mean, British, American, Japanese, Dutch – OK I can understand, but New Zealand? Come on.., Aussie – well OK they are probably good, but I don’t like them to a fault, so there u go)

So, engineers end up not having much in terms of pay. They don’t have that many places to practice their trade, and if they did it will be doing mundane, routine, mind-numbing stuff in GLCs, and hence, they also find their route to the top of the pile jealously guarded by people who are more innovative and has more game-changing arsenal compared to the average Mat Engineer. It is a systemic problem, and the brutal truth is that who ever is left in the profession will bear the brunt of the blame, or the shit-cleaning job, of the landslides, cracks in flyover pillars, foundations, buildings and such like. Others who have the capacity to change lanes should leave their tracks, and seek the arsenal required to change this fate.

As a nation, can we live on being a nation of economists, financiers and Islamic bankers? Sure we can. But at the end of the day, wouldn’t a diversified skill set working within the framework of nation-building, be better for Malaysia?

The human development policy in Malaysia is in such shambles that any demand for salary increase is a political issue, and none is more adept at playing this game than CUEPACS. Schoolteachers have had their increase, private sector can job-hop and get their increase, fishermen, taxi-drivers etc will get what they want as soon as the guy in charge sees a perceived erosion in political support. The ad-hoc, elastoplast, cant see beyond tomorrow approach has been the bane of Malaysia in the last 4 years. A mitigating factor for Pak Lah is that the last 5 years of Mahathir was also not great as he sought to exit with his political reputation intact.

Economically, the low-wage structure has got to be gradually unraveled. We cannot sustain this as the costs are too high. The “brain drain” to moneybags Middle East and ravenous China is turning into a tidal flow- where it was once only geologists, it now includes engineers, accountants, nurses, doctors and anyone who is able to pad up his CV with important sought-after recruitment keywords and has friends already working over there. The leftovers are unable to make up for it, and already sectors such as manufacturing are crying over firstly, the lack of quantity and then the quality of the local graduates, either struggling to speak coherent English or ability to grasp mundane work instructions. It is a sad indictment of an education policy which encourages, subsidises and allows our people to pursue expensive, overseas education, (the Malays who get their overseas education paid for by government agencies are proportionately most at fault here, and those whose parents, including the non-Malays- can most afford it are the ones which we need to train our guns on the most) could not provide the employment opportunities upon their return, their individual attitude’s towards depending upon government handouts notwithstanding.

Obviously, meritocracy would be the solution. But we have lost the last generation of our people being molly-coddled and pampered to the extent that any drastic removal of privileges and opportunities would create sustained political fractures as racial jealousy and demand for personal, class and racial rights overtake common sense.

It would seem the first step is always to create the right environment and context to move forward, prioritizing firstly, judging equally between man (populace, if you happen to be one of those gender-sensitive people who bite at such trivialities), removal of suspicions of underhanded motives emanating from other countries, respect for the legacy that we have and our 51 year history which has allowed us to move this far, that only then can we begin to take the first tentative steps towards removal of these forces which hold us back.