OPENING OF MAKERLAB OF SMK JALAN DAMAI AND SMK BERAPIT
SPEECH BY CHIEF MINISTER OF PENANG
AT THE OPENING OF MAKERLAB OF SMK JALAN DAMAI AND SMK BERAPIT
26 AUGUST 2019
SMK JALAN DAMAI, BUKIT MERTAJAM
YB Prof. Dr. Ramasamy a/l Palanisamy
Deputy Chief Minister (II) of Penang
Dato’ YJ Lim
Plexus APAC President
Dato’ Yoon Chon Leong
Director of Penang Science Cluster
Mr Ooi Peng Ee
CEO of Penang Science Cluster
Mr Lee Cheah Kuen
SMK Jalan Damai Principal
Madam Lim Geaik Hong
SMK Berapit Principal
Madam Lisa Wong Seew Kee
Chairman of the SMK Jalan Damai Parents & Teachers Association
Madam Lim Poh Sew
Chairman of the SMK Berapit Parents & Teachers Association
Honored Guests
Teachers and students
Members of the media
Ladies and gentlemen
Good morning to all of you.
It gives me great pleasure to be here today to witness the launch of MakerLab of SMK Jalan Damai and SMK Berapit in SMK Jalan Damai.
As we all know, MakerLab is one of the many initiatives by Penang Science Cluster. And today SMK Jalan Damai and SMK Berapit are the first two secondary schools on mainland to have their own MakerLabs and the first two funded by the industries, which in this case is Plexus. They are the 7th and 8th MakerLab for secondary schools. Thank you to Plexus!
Penang Science Cluster came into being a decade ago back in 2009 through the effort of the Penang State Government and has been instrumental since then in the promotion of STEM, innovation and entrepreneurship. What truly matters here concerning the future livelihood of Penangites is that Penang Science Cluster was founded to inculcate the future talent pool to drive Penang and Malaysia’s economy forward.
The MakerLabs we are all privileged to witness today will allow students to learn important 21st century technical skills such as Coding, Embedded Systems, 3D Design and 3D printing in a fun and hands-on learning environment. Students will learn technical skills and use their creativity and innovation to build projects to solve problems and take part in competitions at state and national levels. In the course of building such projects as a team, students will also get to practise important soft skills needed to be successful in future, such as creativity, collaboration, communication and critical thinking.
Creating a deep talent pool for the future has always remained an important agenda of the state government due to the fact that Penang is growing rapidly. Our state, Penang is now the top contributor to the country’s GDP, even leapfrogging past Selangor. And this trend is continuing. In the first quarter of 2019, Penang attracted RM8.5 billion of manufacturing Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), accounting for a full 41% of Malaysia’s total! All these companies and industries are looking for highly skilled personnel in science and engineering.
This explains the position taken by the Penang State Government in supporting Penang Science Cluster since its formation in 2009. A crucial decision made by the State Government is our commitment of RM2 million per year for 3 years to enable 100,000 students in Penang each year to learn Coding, an important technical skill for the future.
Not only that, starting with next year’s allocation, the State Government will be allowing our schools to utilize the State allocation each year for school infrastructure upgrades to be used for establishing MakerLabs in spite of the State Government’s limited resources as the annual allocation is insufficient to meet the needs of all 400 schools across Penang.
Penang Science Cluster is unique in Malaysia in that although it was initiated by the State Government, it is however, driven by the industry. I am happy to see many companies in the industry collaborating with Penang Science Cluster on many initiatives to better prepare our students for the future. I would like to encourage all companies to come forward and sponsor the setup of MakerLabs in our schools in Penang. This is beneficial not only to the students themselves in gaining a skill considered necessary in the future talents but to the companies as well because the seed of future success has been sowed in grooming our human talents into priceless human resource.
It is, therefore, most heartening to see Plexus Manufacturing stepping forward to support our schools by sponsoring MakerLabs for both SMK Jalan Damai and SMK Berapit, which are the first two on mainland Penang. So, to Dato’ Lim of Plexus, thank you for your company’s generosity to help develop our secondary school students to be our future talent!
Preparing our young students for the future and creating a bright future for our students are one of the most important responsibilities of any government. The Penang State Government is strongly committed in making this happen, as outlined in our Penang2030 vision. I urge all parties – industry, government and ministries, school principals and teachers, parents and members of our community - to work together in realizing the Penang2030 vision.
Thank you.