Sarawak, with all the planning and development as reflected in SCORE Master Plan and the current 10th Malaysia Plan, is shifting into high gear to the area of massive industrial development in order to keep on the right track of the National agenda to attain the status of a developed Nation by the year 2020.
Besides, the common ambition of the people is to develop Sarawak , which in the 60s and 70s used to be in the backwater lane of development, to become the richest state in country by the year 2030.
The target is have at least US15,000 or in today’s money about RM45,000 per capita income, which is the international measurement for the status of a developed nation, by the year 2020. The State’s per capita income now is RM33,000. In other words, Sarawak must aim to meet the difference of RM12,000 in 10 years, which is not really an arduous task.
For Sarawak , the target can be achieved with a modest growth of less than 5% in the next 10 years. However, the challenge to attain the status of a developed nation may cause some short –term pains. It will, among other things, demand Malaysians to be open to changes that can be painful and shortcuts will be tempting.
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| UNIMAS |
Understandably, the State government will continue to plan well ahead with greater foresight to ensure that all policies will be able to meet increasing challenges of global scenario and environment. More importantly, the development of Sarawak must be able to meet the rising expectation of the people, young people in particular.
It is also taking appropriate steps to ensure that all projects under the current development plan and those under SCORE will be implemented timely and smoothly. The speed of implementation is crucial to further spur the domestic economic activities to cushion the impact of external economic slowdown.
Obviously, all Ministries, Departments and Agencies including Government- Linked Companies must monitor closely the implementation of all projects to ensure that they are being implemented and completed as scheduled. This is even more crucial in view of the prevailing global economic conditions where the external sector is weak. Therefore, high impact projects, which have greater multiplier effects, must be implemented speedily to further spur domestic economic activities.
Understandably, the State government’s primary concern is to ensure that the development of infrastructure in SCORE area must be implemented timely as scheduled. This is critical as the development of the high impact corridor will stimulate further the economic growth for the State for the next twenty years. For example, the development of good infrastructure and competitive energy supplies is essential in order to attract more Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) particularly those relating to the development of energy-intensive industries to the State.
Understandably, the shift toward massive industrial development demands a shift in the kind of workforce from the normal reliance on cheap labor to those that are oriented towards professionalism and having technical skills, expertise and scientific knowledge. Hence, the structure of the workforce can be expected to change immensely.
Obviously, the State government, under the current development plan, is concentrating on the development of manpower to ensure that the local people can be properly trained as the requirements for them to get good jobs. It takes into consideration that the benefits of SCORE will be distributed to the people according to the degree of their skills, willingness to work, mobility and ability to adapt, cooperate and focus on their jobs.
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| Curtin University, Miri |
Conservatively, it is projected that 52% of the work force will comprise of sub- professionals and professionals or semi-skilled and skilled workers or people with qualifications from diploma level upward. The jobs will be for those with technical skills and training. They be technically biased pay very well.
It can be anticipated that all industries, the gigantic ones in particular will require workers with various technical skills to do the maintenance works once the industries start to operate. More of them will be required during the period of operation as compared to those during the stage of decision making and construction.
Chief Minister, Pehin Sri Haji Abdul Taib Mahmud, in his recent speech during the 50th Anniversary Dinner of Royal Institution of Surveyors Malaysia (RISM) Sarawak Chapter, admits of being a bit worried about the manpower requirements of SCORE. It is projected that 52% of the 1.5 million workers required for its development will be skilled workers upward up to the year 2030. Presumably, the local universities are working closely with each other on how to adjust to the growing need. But the system of training people at the technician level or the certificate level is still missing.
Besides, there is a mixed perception among the people, young people in particular, in rural areas that they must undergo vigorous training in academic subjects to become technical workers. Obviously, they fail to realize that they have power of coordination with their hands. For example, they can fix any machine or repair any engine whether in timber camps or factories quite easily because they have the natural talent to handle them.
Pehin Sri Abdul Taib says the State government, on its part, has been making conscientious efforts to set up technical colleges and skills development centers and conduct public awareness campaign to encourage young people, if they cannot go to universities, to pursue courses at technical colleges. Besides, they are also encouraged to pursue technical courses even in universities.
He says the manpower development for Sarawak is basically to transfer the normal workers from land base or agriculture based development to heavy industries and more sophisticated food production and bio- tech processing to make it very challenging.
Hence, the State government has to use a lot of imagination to study other ways of getting training at the technician level or at the certificate level in a much faster way. Obviously, the leadership realizes that it cannot leave the question of training of manpower to the present system of training alone.
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| Politeknik Mukah Convocation |
Pehin Sri Abdul Taib says the State government is studying ways to tailor made courses with jobs that will be created under SCORE. Perhaps, it may decide to stick to some of the old British type of training for technical education and get industries to be involved actively in them to determine what they regard as their requirements either for operation or maintenance of their plants or factories. New development will of course be increasing in the next 10 to 20 years.
He calls on professional bodies like those for quantity surveyors to consider how they can contribute to education institutions particularly at the level of certificates. For example, they can help to study the requirements and how training can be carried out in a shorter period of time. Generally, the government is still having very stringent requirements to get people with certificates to be accepted for any jobs.
He recalls during his time as a young boy in Miri, seeing people with primary Six education being trained by Shell to work as electricians, mechanics, plumbers or laboratory assistants. That seems to be a more practical way of doing training to cope with the demands of industries that will come up more and more in future. Perhaps, the Government should consider building the relationship with industries, which can help to determine the kind of trainings at the level of workers.
Pehin Sri Abdul Taib believes young people can be trained faster if courses can be tailored made with jobs that will be created than following the normal training under the present system. In this connection, perhaps, surveyors and other professional bodies can suggest how they can facilitate the bringing up of the manpower being required for development.
He again recalls that in the early days, the government got involved in training like having survey training schools in Sarawak and Sabah and making other arrangements. But such arrangements can no longer solve the problems of overcoming the demands of the State especially in implementing SCORE.
Hence, all people, who have the roles in meeting the impending challenges of the development programs, should think seriously how they can cope with the demands of using the right people for the right jobs.
He says the task ahead will be enormous as the State embarks on the era of massive industrialization to migrate the economy from the middle income to high income economy towards the year 2020 and beyond. Obviously, all of the people must think seriously of how to cope with the dark task of using the right people for right jobs in a very competitively way. Basically, all must ensure that the State’s development can be implemented smoothly at all levels towards the year 2020 and beyond.
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