IEM PENANG BRANCH 55TH ANNUAL DINNER
SPEECH BY THE CHIEF MINISTER OF PENANG YAB TUAN CHOW KON YEOW FOR THE IEM PENANG BRANCH 55TH ANNUAL DINNER
26 November 202
SPICE Convention Centre
*Salutations on rostrum*
Good evening, everyone.
Congratulations to The Institution of Engineers, Malaysia (Penang Branch) for celebrating your 55th anniversary this evening. I would also like to congratulate IEM (Penang Branch) Chairman Ir Bernard Lim Kee Weng and the Annual Dinner Organizing Chairman Ir Chan Wah Cheong as well as your dedicated team for having organized this successful Annual Dinner event.
On behalf of the State Government, I would like to take this opportunity to express our sincere appreciation to The Institution of Engineers (Penang Branch) and all the engineers who have contributed towards Penang becoming a centre of engineering excellence for the regional and global community. The year 2022 is indeed a very special one for Penang. While IEM Penang is celebrating your 55th anniversary, Penang is also celebrating our 50 years of industrialization.
All of us who are here this evening acknowledge the great contributions of our engineers across different engineering disciplines in the industrialization journey of Penang which our global recognition as the “Silicon Valley of The East”. And for that, your strong commitment and dedication towards the engineering field will not go unnoticed.
Ladies & Gentlemen,
In fact, engineering is behind everything, in line with tonight’s theme “Engineers are the CAPSTONE – Things Breakdown Without Us”. I personally believe that IEM as a learned organization has supported the engineers well in your undertakings.
The Penang State Government will continue to honour our pledge in supporting fellow engineers especially your involvement in various State Government standing committees, portfolios and institutions. We value your opinions and recommendations, and we want the voice of the engineers to be heard and adopted for the sake of Penang’s future development. We will also want the engineers to spearhead the state infrastructure and engineering projects to ensure their successful completion.
Ladies & Gentlemen,
As we are aware, STEM talent development is important to keep Penang competitive in the industrialization journey down the road. Here, IEM Penang Branch STEM subcommittee plays a pivotal role in promoting STEM by organizing IEM Series of STEM Talks to introduce students to careers in engineering.
The Penang State also supports our STEM talent development through several initiatives and these are not only limited to engineers but also include technologists and technicians.
An example is the RM6 million allocated to finance the cost of students taking up the German Meister Diploma Programme at the Penang Skills Development Centre (PSDC) to enable them to study and undergo practical skills training at the same time while being paid a minimum of RM1,000 per month.
Ladies & Gentlemen,
Engineering is a lifelong career and engineers need to learn new things continuously. I am glad to note that IEM Penang Branch has organized various webinars and physical events to further facilitate and promote professional development programmes such as the “Women Engineers Conference 2022: Building the Future, WE Lead” and the Geotechnical Engineering Seminar 2022.
In closing, I wish to thank all of you for being the backbone of Penang’s development and industrialization throughout the past decades. Let us all keep the passion for engineering burning for this current generation as well as the next in order for Penang to scale greater heights in the coming years.
Enjoy your dinner and have a great evening!
Thank you.