As Sarawak has already achieved the per capita income of USD10,000 this year the target of USD 15,000, the international standard of measurement for the status of a developed nation, should not be difficult to achieve towards the year 2020.
However, the State must remain consistent with the efforts and the transformation to achieve the status of a developed nation or even a high income nation. The people must face the transformation together. Hopefully all the generations including community leaders must continue to consider this transformation as the overall struggle towards achieving the desired objective.
For us in Sarawak, as the main strategy is to make a success of SCORE, necessary efforts are being made to prepare the new generations to adapt themselves in the transformation of the economy. The attainment of high income economy by the year 2020 will culminate the success of efforts in the migration from the medium income to high income or from a developing to a developed nation by that year.
Essentially, Sarawak must develop the manpower based on the requirements of SCORE, which will require at least 52% of the work force comprising of sub- professionals and professionals or semi-skilled and skilled workers or people with qualifications from diploma level upward.
Obviously the State government has formulated a long-term development plan for at least 10 years that takes into consideration all the necessary actions to be taken ensure that the State will achieve its objectives. Necessary steps to be taken relate to management, application of ICT and other tools of modern management and administration. Essentially, conscientious efforts must be made to produce sufficient categories of workers needed by the development of SCORE.
However, Sarawak will require more people with technical skills than in the past with the development of SCORE. Hence, there is a need to carry out public awareness campaign that should involve various segments of the community like people, who have graduated from Polytechnics. These people have the skills that can be used to develop a technology for the development of a certain industry.
The State, besides developing heavy industries, will also be developing agro - based industries like bio-tech industries, which will require more people with skills to become Laboratory assistants, Research assistants and technical posts. These are the sectors in the agro-based industries that require people with technical skills and expertise.
Understandably, Sarawak Electricity Board (SEB) will require more supporting staff in electrical and mechanical engineering with the State’s plan to generate by the year 2020 at least 6,000 MW to meet the requirements of local industries. The state must generate sufficient supply of electricity at reasonable costs in order to attract more investors to set up high energy consumption industries locally.
Obviously, the State must be able to anticipate early the requirements of industries and the types of skills that they want to be able to produce various types of engineers like structural, mechanical, civil or electrical engineers that will be required by industries. Besides, an engineer will require at least three people, who have the technical skills to support him in his job. Obviously, the State must start to train the people as early as possible, as trainings take time, in order to meet the requirements of industries that will come up. It is projected that industries to be set up in SCORE development area alone will require at least 900,000 workers will technical skills and expertise.
Chief Minister, Pehin Sri Haji Abdul Taib Mahmud, in his speech during the 4th Convocation of Polytechnic Mukah, says Mukah is being developed as the centre of technical education. Besides, the State government is also helping with the development of University College Laila Taib in Sibu to widen the scope of studies relating to technical education like mechanical engineering to support the development of manpower in SCORE.
He is happy that Polytechnic Mukah, an institution that emphasises on technical education, has helped to reinforce the fact that technical education is very relevant to meet the requirements of industries that are and will be coming up in the State, SCORE development area in particular. For example, relevant steps have already been taken to set up heavy industries in Samalaju.
He says the State has already received RM26.4 billion worth of investment to set up various industries from aluminium smelting, poly silicon, mechanical pulp and paper and others. All the industries will require workers with various technical skills. Most people have the misconception that SCORE will create jobs in the first phase of its development only.
He says about 10,000 jobs will be created during the 10MP from 2011 – 2015. More jobs that require people with technical skills will be created to do the maintenance works once the industries start to operate. Probably more of them will be required during the period of operation or production as compared to those during the stage of decision making and construction.
Pehin Sri Abdul Taib has also agreed with the proposal to set up Bumiputra Trust Fund, which will be tasked to organise public awareness campaign to help Bumiputras to realise the importance of playing their roles in the economic development of the State and country. A detailed study will be carried out to enable the government to know the types of skills that should be imparted to Bumiputras. Hopefully, the success of Bumiputras in technical education will help to prove that it can become the backbone of the local industry in time to come.
In the last sitting of Dewan Undangan Negeri, a number of members requested the government to consider setting up Bumiputras Trust Fund with the primary objective to help Bumiputras in rural areas to realise the importance of playing meaningful roles in the economic development of the State and the country. They must be assisted to adapt themselves to play bigger roles in the development of SCORE.
Pehin Sri Abdul Taib believes, though technical education in other places do not focus on the requirements of SCORE, those pursuing courses in them should have no problem finding jobs in SCORE. Hopefully, more local institutions will be able to introduce courses that are more suitable to the requirements of industries in future.
He says courses being run by Polytechnic Mukah can be considered as pioneering in nature and are relevant to industries that will come up in SCORE. Polytechnic Mukah should help to propagate technical education at the level of diploma as an important segment of the overall program to produce about 52% of the workforce that comprises of sub-professional and professional people in future.
Generally, the people in sub-professional and professional levels will be required more and more as the State moves into the higher level of industrialisation. For example, the people with diplomas in technical education in Canada can earn the same level of salaries as engineers; sometimes, they get bigger salaries because of bigger demands for their services.
Australia will become Malaysia’s main competitor in acquiring people with technical skills and expertise in future. Therefore, the people must consider the development of technical skills not as a business but as an important transformation, which they can help to promote, in order to ensure the success of the transformation of the economy from medium to high income economy towards the year 2020 and beyond.
He believes young people or children from rural areas, who do not have the same educational background as those in urban areas, should find it easier to pursue technical courses like engineering. Nevertheless, the standard of technology must remain on par with those of the world. For example, the sago industry that entails the process of manufacturing requires an upgrading of the process to higher and better level in order to meet the standard of the world market.
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