Dear members,
I'm back home. I guess some of you may have known that I went for my Haj. It was very spiritual and one of my most memorable journey. My God - you won't believe how exhausting but fulfilling the months of October, November & December 2009 was for me. I completed by doctoral study, had my viva, made the required minor amendments & submitted to the university, and perform the Haj. In between carried out my duties in ISM, Board of QS and CIDB. Any spare time was for my firm, and oh yes - hahaha my family.
I have received many feedbacks from members. I really appreciate that and wished to thank all of you as at one point I did not know for sure if there was any interest from members. But I continue to ramble on and on as I did not receive any negative feedback so I consoled myself even if members did not read at least I tried to reach out. I did answer to all the comments but since I'm not 'blog' savvy some of the answers could not be sent. But if you wish to contact me my email add - wmaimun@yahoo.com.
By now members and fellows (sorry none for graduates and probationers) may have received your personal diary cum notebook. Do appreciate the hardwork by the secretariat. It's no mean task to personalise and get all those names right. The staff have been working through the holidays. If you have not received it - maybe its in the mail - or maybe check if you have paid the subscription.
I am happy to inform that the hard work we put in for the application for the MIDA grant for the institution has been rewarded. MIDA has given ISM the grant for outreach programs and also for modernising and upgrading the secretariat. I scheduled to end the year 2009 with a meeting to discuss with the 4 vice presidents of all the divisions on the programs to be carried out as required by the grant for the benefit of all ISM members.
So hoping that the new year 2010 will be more prosperous and bring in more good tidings.
Salam
Sr Hjjh Wan Maimun Wan Abdullah
Monday, December 28, 2009
Friday, November 20, 2009
Update 9
Hello
I chaired the QS accreditation council BQSM meeting on 13 nov to discuss issues with regards to the accreditation of QS qualifications, discussion with MQA & ISM, and the visit to several universities in UK in Jan 2009. In the afternoon I attended the 1st BQSM excellent award 2010 committee meeting to discuss criteria for the several awards by the BQSM. On 16 Nov I represented ISM in the Green Building Index consultative Panel chaired by PAM. We discuss issues with regards to the incentives of going green i.e. present incentives and new incentives under the newly presented Budget. The discussion also touches on other wish list incentives.In the evening there was a talk on the Green Building index.
The next three days from 17 Nov to 19 Nov was a whirlwind of personal errands for my impending month leave. I was suppose to chair the council meeting held this afternoon on 19 Nov but due to some other pressing commitments I had to, at the last minute, request the Deputy president Sr Elvin to take over the chair for the council meeting.
Tomorrow I will be on leave and will only be back on 21 Dec 2009. So I wish to take this opportunity to wish all of you happy holidays and a merry Christmas (I hope its not too early). For Muslims who will be going for Haj - let us all pray for forgiveness, easy passage, and we be bestowed by Allah (swt) Haji Mabrur.
That's it for now. I do hope I would be able to continue with this rambling in the President's corner when I come back later. Take care
Salam
Sr Wan Maimun Wan Abdullah
I chaired the QS accreditation council BQSM meeting on 13 nov to discuss issues with regards to the accreditation of QS qualifications, discussion with MQA & ISM, and the visit to several universities in UK in Jan 2009. In the afternoon I attended the 1st BQSM excellent award 2010 committee meeting to discuss criteria for the several awards by the BQSM. On 16 Nov I represented ISM in the Green Building Index consultative Panel chaired by PAM. We discuss issues with regards to the incentives of going green i.e. present incentives and new incentives under the newly presented Budget. The discussion also touches on other wish list incentives.In the evening there was a talk on the Green Building index.
The next three days from 17 Nov to 19 Nov was a whirlwind of personal errands for my impending month leave. I was suppose to chair the council meeting held this afternoon on 19 Nov but due to some other pressing commitments I had to, at the last minute, request the Deputy president Sr Elvin to take over the chair for the council meeting.
Tomorrow I will be on leave and will only be back on 21 Dec 2009. So I wish to take this opportunity to wish all of you happy holidays and a merry Christmas (I hope its not too early). For Muslims who will be going for Haj - let us all pray for forgiveness, easy passage, and we be bestowed by Allah (swt) Haji Mabrur.
That's it for now. I do hope I would be able to continue with this rambling in the President's corner when I come back later. Take care
Salam
Sr Wan Maimun Wan Abdullah
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Update 8
Hello dear members
First and foremost we wish to send our deepest condolences to the family of the late Sr Aloysius Choon Kok Sin. He had been a loyal ISM fellow and Past President session 1995 - 1996. May his soul rest in peace.
A day after coming back from an enjoyable ISM organised visit to Japan I had to immediately carry out my duties representing ISM. On 26 Oct 2009, I attended the opening ceremony of the National Asset and Facility Management Convention (NAFAM) 2009 in the morning. I was not able to stay on for long as I had to attend the Malaysian services development council - Focus group on "Busines and Professional services" meeting in the afternoon. The main discussion was with regards to the action plan to take advantage of market opening as a result of liberalisation of the services sector both for construction services and non-construction services. I've forwarded to all the vice presidents of all the four divisions for their comments. I'll request Katherine to also post this in ISM website. Should members have any comments do forward to the secretariat.
On 27 oct I attended the CIDB excellent award to finalise the recipients for the awards that I was appointed to evaluate. This year we underwent a very tough evaluation regime that include courtesy visits and all of us the panel of evaluators were impressed by the quality of the candidates. I was a very tough decision. The next day on the 28 Oct I was interviewed by a reporter for Berita Harian. I'm not used to this so I decided to type her my answer script. I don't know whether this was due to my nervousness or due to being a project manager thus the need to be in control. She may have gone back laughing !!. Of course there are additional impromptu questions and answers. So look out for your president on any thursday of Berita Harian a month from now - if it will ever be printed.
It was again a full day on 29 oct as I attended the revision Act committee of BQSM in the morning. Part of the amendments were required due to the instruction from the government on the liberalisation of the the services. Others include the changing of terms, prefix, consistency in drafting and increasing the amount for breach of the act. As this is still in the draft form I think BQSM consider this as confidential. In the afternoon we held our monthly Council meeting. The council conduct the first visit for the session to the Association of Banks on 30 oct. It was a fruitful meeting as part of the agenda was to discuss on the panel of Surveyors with banks, services of Surveyors that could be rendered to the banks and other pertinent issues. Sec gen Sr Ainon will be finalising the report on the discussion.
I attended a seminar on globalization and liberalisation - its impact on the property held on 4 nov. I was only able to catch the afternoon session that was the panel discussion. I must be either too tired, too old or not savvy enough as I was not able to fully follow the discussion. But I saw PCVS vice-president and Dato Mani there so I'm okay. On 5 nov I attended the Joint Board meeting comprising reps from the Board of QS, Bd of Architect and Bd of Engineers. The meeting was to discuss on recent developments and its on the professions and to inform each other of proposed revisions to the Act. In the afternoon of 5 nov I went to University Malaya to attend a talk on the collaboration of academic and the industry. During the Q&A I gave my two cents worth of thought with regards to ISM's partnering university programme, the list of research areas required of the university, quality of research by university for the industry and the need for research to be giving practical solutions.
On 12 nov, a meeting was held in PSDC to discuss on the Malaysian Services Exhibition to be held in April 2010 in Dubai. It seems that Matrade had agreed with my suggestion for PSDC to be the lead collaborator for the Professional services. So in the meeting I again reiterated the need to showcase a total solution for professional services for construction that include architects, engineers and surveyors. It should not be a showcase of individual services by different institutions. Hopefully ISM would be able to participate for next year's MSE. I also had an informal discussion with the officer of PSDC with regards to inquiries from Australia on the liberalisation of the services. In the afternoon I chaired the ISM monthly management meeting. And in the evening we conduct a discussion with regards to our proposed "Blast in March" i.e. a promotion and publicity blitz for ISM in the month of March.
So that's all for now. Again as I had always mentioned, if you need to see the minutes, paper presentation etc do request from Kat of ISM. If its not in ISM and still with me she will contact me for the copy. Hope to update you later.
Salam
Sr Wan Maimun Wan Abdullah
First and foremost we wish to send our deepest condolences to the family of the late Sr Aloysius Choon Kok Sin. He had been a loyal ISM fellow and Past President session 1995 - 1996. May his soul rest in peace.
A day after coming back from an enjoyable ISM organised visit to Japan I had to immediately carry out my duties representing ISM. On 26 Oct 2009, I attended the opening ceremony of the National Asset and Facility Management Convention (NAFAM) 2009 in the morning. I was not able to stay on for long as I had to attend the Malaysian services development council - Focus group on "Busines and Professional services" meeting in the afternoon. The main discussion was with regards to the action plan to take advantage of market opening as a result of liberalisation of the services sector both for construction services and non-construction services. I've forwarded to all the vice presidents of all the four divisions for their comments. I'll request Katherine to also post this in ISM website. Should members have any comments do forward to the secretariat.
On 27 oct I attended the CIDB excellent award to finalise the recipients for the awards that I was appointed to evaluate. This year we underwent a very tough evaluation regime that include courtesy visits and all of us the panel of evaluators were impressed by the quality of the candidates. I was a very tough decision. The next day on the 28 Oct I was interviewed by a reporter for Berita Harian. I'm not used to this so I decided to type her my answer script. I don't know whether this was due to my nervousness or due to being a project manager thus the need to be in control. She may have gone back laughing !!. Of course there are additional impromptu questions and answers. So look out for your president on any thursday of Berita Harian a month from now - if it will ever be printed.
It was again a full day on 29 oct as I attended the revision Act committee of BQSM in the morning. Part of the amendments were required due to the instruction from the government on the liberalisation of the the services. Others include the changing of terms, prefix, consistency in drafting and increasing the amount for breach of the act. As this is still in the draft form I think BQSM consider this as confidential. In the afternoon we held our monthly Council meeting. The council conduct the first visit for the session to the Association of Banks on 30 oct. It was a fruitful meeting as part of the agenda was to discuss on the panel of Surveyors with banks, services of Surveyors that could be rendered to the banks and other pertinent issues. Sec gen Sr Ainon will be finalising the report on the discussion.
I attended a seminar on globalization and liberalisation - its impact on the property held on 4 nov. I was only able to catch the afternoon session that was the panel discussion. I must be either too tired, too old or not savvy enough as I was not able to fully follow the discussion. But I saw PCVS vice-president and Dato Mani there so I'm okay. On 5 nov I attended the Joint Board meeting comprising reps from the Board of QS, Bd of Architect and Bd of Engineers. The meeting was to discuss on recent developments and its on the professions and to inform each other of proposed revisions to the Act. In the afternoon of 5 nov I went to University Malaya to attend a talk on the collaboration of academic and the industry. During the Q&A I gave my two cents worth of thought with regards to ISM's partnering university programme, the list of research areas required of the university, quality of research by university for the industry and the need for research to be giving practical solutions.
On 12 nov, a meeting was held in PSDC to discuss on the Malaysian Services Exhibition to be held in April 2010 in Dubai. It seems that Matrade had agreed with my suggestion for PSDC to be the lead collaborator for the Professional services. So in the meeting I again reiterated the need to showcase a total solution for professional services for construction that include architects, engineers and surveyors. It should not be a showcase of individual services by different institutions. Hopefully ISM would be able to participate for next year's MSE. I also had an informal discussion with the officer of PSDC with regards to inquiries from Australia on the liberalisation of the services. In the afternoon I chaired the ISM monthly management meeting. And in the evening we conduct a discussion with regards to our proposed "Blast in March" i.e. a promotion and publicity blitz for ISM in the month of March.
So that's all for now. Again as I had always mentioned, if you need to see the minutes, paper presentation etc do request from Kat of ISM. If its not in ISM and still with me she will contact me for the copy. Hope to update you later.
Salam
Sr Wan Maimun Wan Abdullah
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Update 7
Hello
We are back from Japan. It was such an interesting and enjoyable trip - technical visits and social - with a group of Surveyors whom we are all familiar. We covered so much ground from Tokyo to Lake Kawaguchi, Hakone, Toyohashi, to Kyoto and Osaka. But the itenary was carefully drawn up we did not feel tired or rushed. We ate authentic sushi, tempura and teppanyaki - but of course some of us, myself included, mixed these Japanese delicacies with our very own sambal, ikan bilis and rendang. The last night was a real Japanese fine dining complete with the ambiance of tatami mat, hushed whispering of pretty kimono-clad ladies, origami, and bonsai garden.
The technical visit included visit to Shibaura institute of technology to understand their programe for surveyors. While there we met up with several Malaysian students. Next we went to meet our counterpart the "Building Surveyors Institute of Japan" which also include talks on Japan latest software. We were lucky to be able to make a courtesy call to Matrade Tokyo office and next to the Malaysian embassy in Tokyo.
We enjoyed ourselves but my only regret was that I did not try the onsen bath.
Salam
Sr Wan Maimun
We are back from Japan. It was such an interesting and enjoyable trip - technical visits and social - with a group of Surveyors whom we are all familiar. We covered so much ground from Tokyo to Lake Kawaguchi, Hakone, Toyohashi, to Kyoto and Osaka. But the itenary was carefully drawn up we did not feel tired or rushed. We ate authentic sushi, tempura and teppanyaki - but of course some of us, myself included, mixed these Japanese delicacies with our very own sambal, ikan bilis and rendang. The last night was a real Japanese fine dining complete with the ambiance of tatami mat, hushed whispering of pretty kimono-clad ladies, origami, and bonsai garden.
The technical visit included visit to Shibaura institute of technology to understand their programe for surveyors. While there we met up with several Malaysian students. Next we went to meet our counterpart the "Building Surveyors Institute of Japan" which also include talks on Japan latest software. We were lucky to be able to make a courtesy call to Matrade Tokyo office and next to the Malaysian embassy in Tokyo.
Although Japan is not a shopping haven but I do believe our group somehow manage to increase Japan GDP by 0.1%. Many of us came back with Kimono, Yakuta, Japanese purses and dolls, seaweed, crackers & nuts, swatch, Japanese brand cosmetics, branded goods from premium outlets - I think most of us took Sr Han Hoe's holiday motto of "Better to regret buying than to regret not buying"!!. Do watch out for him in a leather jacket. Or go over to our Sec Gen's house for a quick snack cooked in her unique 3-in-1 pan. And drop by to our immediate past president's house for tea using the new bone china tea set.
All the towns and villages that we visited - are clean, clean and clean. The toilets are clean, clean, clean with push buttons for water shower. Not a single piece of litter eventhough there weren't many dustbins. It seems that the Japanese would just pocket any rubbish to throw it later in the bins at home. Everything works, and there are a lot of unspoken rules that they followed religously. Everything work within a system. As such although they are polite, but since everything has a fixed procedure, way and system, not much flexibility. Recycle is a way of life and dining is a art. The scenery is breathtaking - especially with Mt Fiji in the background. And my God, the amount of photos that all of us took!!
We enjoyed ourselves but my only regret was that I did not try the onsen bath.
Salam
Sr Wan Maimun
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Friday, October 16, 2009
Update 6
We are still in the month of Syawal and thus the one month celebration of open house still continues. ISM successfully held our open house at hotel Armada on 28 Sept 2009 with good food and good company. The council wished to thank all members young and old who came to share the celebration and catch up with old friends and colleagues. Other open houses where the President was invited were by PSDC on 2 Oct, BQSM on 6 Oct, CKUB JKR on 13 Oct and Matrade on 14 Oct 2009. Tonite I will be attending Datuk Sr Isahak's open house. Hope to see you all there tonite.
On 29 Sept, Fadilah Camaluddin and I were in Johor on the invitation of UTM to give talks to their QS students with regards to ISM, registration and panel forum on the challenges of QS. Fadilah was her usual lively and gutsy self taunting and teasing the students to participate. It was fun. On 30 Sept and 1 Oct, I was fully occupied with the CIDB excellent award evaluation panel and as such DP Sr Elvin and vice presidents were on hand to welcome HKIS young surveyors visit to ISM on the 1 Oct. On 6 Oct, I attended the BQSM Board meeting. On 12 Oct, we had ISM 50th anniversary meeting. I was again invited by another institution of higher learning (Taylor's College) to give a talk to their students on 14 Oct but this time the emphasis was on being a professional QS. It was hilarious as the students were lively.
In the afternoon of 14 Oct we had our ISM management committee meeting and amongst the issues discussed were feedbacks on survey with regards to ISM, publicity on ISM, proposed setting up of UK chapter, opening up of ISM membership to non-Malaysian, financial issues and administrative issues.
On the 15 Oct, the FIG international conference was successfully held. It was attended by over 250 participants comprising international members of FIG commission 7 and members from ISM, PEJUTA, JUPEM and LJT. I attended the opening and stayed on for the two keynotes which were brilliant and informative. The FIG Commission 7 - annual dinner was also held on the night with traditional dances which enthralled the foreign participants. Also on 15 Oct, CIDB held the forum on construction industry payment and adjudication act (CIPAA) which I attended after attending the FIG opening and keynotes. It is hoped that after this forum the industry's concerns highlighted would be addressed and subsequently the CIPAA would be able to be gazetted. It's about time Malaysia had its Payment Act considering that the effort had started way back in 2003.
This morning on 16 Oct, I attended the National Professional Services Export Council (NAPSEC) and presented a paper on the Internationalization effort of the Surveying professions to NAPSEC members. I informed the members with regards to the efforts by the QS on the KL Pact, the PCVS effort on the education promotion in India and ISM's technical and study tour with emphasis on GLS effort on their visits in Vietnam, Cambodia, Phillipines and Indonesia. I also touched on the Malaysian Services Exhibition by Matrade. I suggested for PSDC to showcase the integration of all the professional services within the construction industry that include the Surveyors, Architects and Engineers instead of each instituion showcasing their own services individually. The next MSE would be held in Dubai in 2010.
ISM has organized a technical cum social visit to Japan from 18 Oct - 25 Oct. I will blog you all with regards to the trip after I come back. So that's it for now. I'm off to Datuk Sri Sr Isahak open house.
On 29 Sept, Fadilah Camaluddin and I were in Johor on the invitation of UTM to give talks to their QS students with regards to ISM, registration and panel forum on the challenges of QS. Fadilah was her usual lively and gutsy self taunting and teasing the students to participate. It was fun. On 30 Sept and 1 Oct, I was fully occupied with the CIDB excellent award evaluation panel and as such DP Sr Elvin and vice presidents were on hand to welcome HKIS young surveyors visit to ISM on the 1 Oct. On 6 Oct, I attended the BQSM Board meeting. On 12 Oct, we had ISM 50th anniversary meeting. I was again invited by another institution of higher learning (Taylor's College) to give a talk to their students on 14 Oct but this time the emphasis was on being a professional QS. It was hilarious as the students were lively.
In the afternoon of 14 Oct we had our ISM management committee meeting and amongst the issues discussed were feedbacks on survey with regards to ISM, publicity on ISM, proposed setting up of UK chapter, opening up of ISM membership to non-Malaysian, financial issues and administrative issues.
On the 15 Oct, the FIG international conference was successfully held. It was attended by over 250 participants comprising international members of FIG commission 7 and members from ISM, PEJUTA, JUPEM and LJT. I attended the opening and stayed on for the two keynotes which were brilliant and informative. The FIG Commission 7 - annual dinner was also held on the night with traditional dances which enthralled the foreign participants. Also on 15 Oct, CIDB held the forum on construction industry payment and adjudication act (CIPAA) which I attended after attending the FIG opening and keynotes. It is hoped that after this forum the industry's concerns highlighted would be addressed and subsequently the CIPAA would be able to be gazetted. It's about time Malaysia had its Payment Act considering that the effort had started way back in 2003.
This morning on 16 Oct, I attended the National Professional Services Export Council (NAPSEC) and presented a paper on the Internationalization effort of the Surveying professions to NAPSEC members. I informed the members with regards to the efforts by the QS on the KL Pact, the PCVS effort on the education promotion in India and ISM's technical and study tour with emphasis on GLS effort on their visits in Vietnam, Cambodia, Phillipines and Indonesia. I also touched on the Malaysian Services Exhibition by Matrade. I suggested for PSDC to showcase the integration of all the professional services within the construction industry that include the Surveyors, Architects and Engineers instead of each instituion showcasing their own services individually. The next MSE would be held in Dubai in 2010.
ISM has organized a technical cum social visit to Japan from 18 Oct - 25 Oct. I will blog you all with regards to the trip after I come back. So that's it for now. I'm off to Datuk Sri Sr Isahak open house.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Update 5
Selamat Hari Raya - Maaf zahir dan batin. I received hundreds of Raya cards from members and as such wished to thank all of you for remembering us in ISM. It's touching as I have never received such many cards. I'm also glad for the messages and phone calls that thanked for the Raya card from the President and ISM.
It's been a week since Raya and its only today that I am able to write in. I've not been feeling well having a terrible bout of coughing that left me nausea and dizzy for weeks. But despite that the President's actitivities representing ISM still went on. I represented ISM for the meetings held by Board of QS Malaysia (BQSM) on 7 Sept for the BQSM Publicity and IT subcommittee, on 11 Sept the meeting for the BQSM registration subcommittee, and on 14 sept for the BQSM revision of the Act subcommittee, .
10 Sept was another hectic day where in the morning we had the Partnering Universities meeting. In the afternoon I attended the CIDB excellence award panel meeting and in the evening I joined the PCVS committee for a berbuka puasa at Hotel Istana. I thank the PCVS committee members for inviting the President. The next day on 11 Sept, I attended a meeting organised by RICS to discuss on the RICS/ISM student conference meeting tentatively to be held in January 2010. Two days before Hari Raya, on 16 Sept we held the ISM Management Committee meeting to discuss issues to be presented for the Council meeting. As if that is not enough and giving me no time to prepare my Rendang and Ketupat for Raya, we had a meeting with MIDA to discuss ISM's application for the 'Services Sector Capacity Development Fund' (SSDF). The meeting with MIDA officers was worth the 'Rendang and Ketupat time' as it gave us valuable information on revising ISM applications for the fund. In addition, on the eve Raya evening I had to go to CIDB to finalize my evaluation for the CIDB excellent awards. All these done in between the awful horrible coughing.
I was not able to enjoy the one week of the Raya holiday due to the coughing and not being able to sleep well. Hopefully all of you are not as miserable as I was and enjoy your holiday with family and friends.
Anyway on 26 Sept, together with Dr Ting and Katherine we finalized the revised ISM application for the SSDF as per the format required by MIDA. I do hope ISM members could join me to pray that our application would be approved and we would be able to organize the training & outreach programs, and the ISM upgrade & modernization programs.
Please note that on 28 Sept we scheduled the ISM council meeting together with ISM open house. Do attend the high-tea which we have organized for members to be held at Armada Hotel from 5.00 - 7.00 pm. I need to excuse myself by 6.30 pm to attend a launching by the edge magazine. Then on 29 Sept together with Sr Fadilah Camaluddin we have been invited by UTM Johor to give talks to their students with regards to ISM and challenges to the profession. Lastly on 30 Sept, CIDB scheduled the excellent award meeting.
So my dear members, again SELAMAT HARI RAYA and don't forget to attend the ISM open house to be held on 28 Sept at Armada Hotel from 5.00 - 7.00. See you there
Sr Wan Maimun Wan Abdullah
26 Sept 2009
It's been a week since Raya and its only today that I am able to write in. I've not been feeling well having a terrible bout of coughing that left me nausea and dizzy for weeks. But despite that the President's actitivities representing ISM still went on. I represented ISM for the meetings held by Board of QS Malaysia (BQSM) on 7 Sept for the BQSM Publicity and IT subcommittee, on 11 Sept the meeting for the BQSM registration subcommittee, and on 14 sept for the BQSM revision of the Act subcommittee, .
10 Sept was another hectic day where in the morning we had the Partnering Universities meeting. In the afternoon I attended the CIDB excellence award panel meeting and in the evening I joined the PCVS committee for a berbuka puasa at Hotel Istana. I thank the PCVS committee members for inviting the President. The next day on 11 Sept, I attended a meeting organised by RICS to discuss on the RICS/ISM student conference meeting tentatively to be held in January 2010. Two days before Hari Raya, on 16 Sept we held the ISM Management Committee meeting to discuss issues to be presented for the Council meeting. As if that is not enough and giving me no time to prepare my Rendang and Ketupat for Raya, we had a meeting with MIDA to discuss ISM's application for the 'Services Sector Capacity Development Fund' (SSDF). The meeting with MIDA officers was worth the 'Rendang and Ketupat time' as it gave us valuable information on revising ISM applications for the fund. In addition, on the eve Raya evening I had to go to CIDB to finalize my evaluation for the CIDB excellent awards. All these done in between the awful horrible coughing.
I was not able to enjoy the one week of the Raya holiday due to the coughing and not being able to sleep well. Hopefully all of you are not as miserable as I was and enjoy your holiday with family and friends.
Anyway on 26 Sept, together with Dr Ting and Katherine we finalized the revised ISM application for the SSDF as per the format required by MIDA. I do hope ISM members could join me to pray that our application would be approved and we would be able to organize the training & outreach programs, and the ISM upgrade & modernization programs.
Please note that on 28 Sept we scheduled the ISM council meeting together with ISM open house. Do attend the high-tea which we have organized for members to be held at Armada Hotel from 5.00 - 7.00 pm. I need to excuse myself by 6.30 pm to attend a launching by the edge magazine. Then on 29 Sept together with Sr Fadilah Camaluddin we have been invited by UTM Johor to give talks to their students with regards to ISM and challenges to the profession. Lastly on 30 Sept, CIDB scheduled the excellent award meeting.
So my dear members, again SELAMAT HARI RAYA and don't forget to attend the ISM open house to be held on 28 Sept at Armada Hotel from 5.00 - 7.00. See you there
Sr Wan Maimun Wan Abdullah
26 Sept 2009
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Update 4
For the past 3 postings I have been reminiscing on the President's activities in the month of June and July. Similarly in Aug the activities continued and should have started with a Press conference of the Pacific Association of Quantity Surveyors (PAQS) on 5 Aug. But since I was outstation, DP Sr Elvin was there on hand together with the PAQS organising committee. On 7 Aug, I attended the Johor Branch annual dinner held in JB. It was a wonderful, fun and family-oriented dinner and everybody seemed to enjoy themselves. I did. Then on 11 Aug I attended the Board of QS subcommittee meeting to discuss on the revision of the Act.
12 Aug was a another busy day for me. In the morning we had a discussion with the newly appointed Managing Director of SPPK. In the afternoon I was off to the Board of QS to chair the Accreditation sub-committee and in the evening together with the BS divisional committee members we had a meeting with the KSU of Ministry of Works to discuss on the BS Act.
Two congresses organized by ISM were held in the month of August. I was told by DP Sr Elvin that the NREC held on 11 Aug was a success - congratulation to the organizing committee. The second congress was the PAQS congress held on 16 and 17 Aug. Prior to the congress on 15 Aug, the PAQS Board Meeting was held. The congress was also a success and the climax of it was the signing of the KL Pact between the various international Institutions and Councils representing QS, cost consultants and cost engineers around the world.
On 24 Aug we had two meetings - ISM 50th celebration sub-committee and the Management Committee meeting. Then on 27 Aug we had the council meeting. That ends the activities of the President in the month of August. Do call Ms Katherine if you wish to see the minutes of the discussion and meetings. The proceedings of the congresses are available in ISM Library.
Salam hormat
Sr Wan Maimun Wan Abdullah
12 Aug was a another busy day for me. In the morning we had a discussion with the newly appointed Managing Director of SPPK. In the afternoon I was off to the Board of QS to chair the Accreditation sub-committee and in the evening together with the BS divisional committee members we had a meeting with the KSU of Ministry of Works to discuss on the BS Act.
Two congresses organized by ISM were held in the month of August. I was told by DP Sr Elvin that the NREC held on 11 Aug was a success - congratulation to the organizing committee. The second congress was the PAQS congress held on 16 and 17 Aug. Prior to the congress on 15 Aug, the PAQS Board Meeting was held. The congress was also a success and the climax of it was the signing of the KL Pact between the various international Institutions and Councils representing QS, cost consultants and cost engineers around the world.
On 24 Aug we had two meetings - ISM 50th celebration sub-committee and the Management Committee meeting. Then on 27 Aug we had the council meeting. That ends the activities of the President in the month of August. Do call Ms Katherine if you wish to see the minutes of the discussion and meetings. The proceedings of the congresses are available in ISM Library.
Salam hormat
Sr Wan Maimun Wan Abdullah
Friday, September 11, 2009
Update 3
Hello fellow members
Continuing with the President's activities in July it started off with BIPC dinner on 7 July at KL convention centre. I had just came back from Ipoh and was half an hour late for the dinner. Imagine my horror and embarrassment having to meekly smile to the guest of honor (KSU of Ministry of Works) and seated at the same VVIP table. The speech by the Chairman of BIPC (President of IEM) highlighted issues with regards to the memorandum that we forwarded to the government.
On 7 July I attended the meeting on the CIDB Excellence Award being in the committee for the CEO of the Year Award and Player of the Year Award. I was again in CIDB on 9 July for the discussion on the CIDB Strategic Thrust 1 of their Masterplan.
We had our Management committee meeting on the morning of 13 July and the afternoon we met P.E Chong of IEM who highlighted on the issues of concern by IEM on the construction industry Payment and Adjudication Act. On 16 July I had a brief discussion with ISM COO Katherine on secretariat issues. Then I was off to Australia on a personal business.
The 2nd council meeting was held on 27 July. It was a real bummer when at the last minute not even one of the management committee was able to attend the MITI dialogue held on 28 July. ISM forwarded a memorandum to MITI with regards to the surveying profession and the construction industry. On 29 & 30 July I represented ISM at the International Construction Conference held in Padang Indonesia as ISM was invited as one of the VVIP. I took the opportunity to discuss with QSs in Indonesia on their formation of Institusi QS Indonesia (IQSI).
So that wraps up the President's activities on behalf of ISM for the month of July. If you need to see the detail of the discussions, minutes and memorandum mentioned above, do call up our COO Katherine. Selamat berpuasa and take care
Continuing with the President's activities in July it started off with BIPC dinner on 7 July at KL convention centre. I had just came back from Ipoh and was half an hour late for the dinner. Imagine my horror and embarrassment having to meekly smile to the guest of honor (KSU of Ministry of Works) and seated at the same VVIP table. The speech by the Chairman of BIPC (President of IEM) highlighted issues with regards to the memorandum that we forwarded to the government.
On 7 July I attended the meeting on the CIDB Excellence Award being in the committee for the CEO of the Year Award and Player of the Year Award. I was again in CIDB on 9 July for the discussion on the CIDB Strategic Thrust 1 of their Masterplan.
We had our Management committee meeting on the morning of 13 July and the afternoon we met P.E Chong of IEM who highlighted on the issues of concern by IEM on the construction industry Payment and Adjudication Act. On 16 July I had a brief discussion with ISM COO Katherine on secretariat issues. Then I was off to Australia on a personal business.
The 2nd council meeting was held on 27 July. It was a real bummer when at the last minute not even one of the management committee was able to attend the MITI dialogue held on 28 July. ISM forwarded a memorandum to MITI with regards to the surveying profession and the construction industry. On 29 & 30 July I represented ISM at the International Construction Conference held in Padang Indonesia as ISM was invited as one of the VVIP. I took the opportunity to discuss with QSs in Indonesia on their formation of Institusi QS Indonesia (IQSI).
So that wraps up the President's activities on behalf of ISM for the month of July. If you need to see the detail of the discussions, minutes and memorandum mentioned above, do call up our COO Katherine. Selamat berpuasa and take care
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Update 2
Good morning to all -its been 14 days Muslims all over the world observe the fast refraining from eating, drinking, smoking, and indulging in anything that is in excess or ill-natured from dawn until sunset. A little bit of information for my non-Muslim friends -the fasting month of Ramadhan is believed by Muslims to be the holiest month of the entire year. Its reverence signifies the revelation of the Holy Quran to Prophet Muhammad (saw). Ramadhan is an opportunity for Muslims to cultivate a raised awareness of God (swt), a month of spiritual cleansing and trying to purify oursleves through self-restraint and good deeds. As such, although life goes on as usual but there are less worldly activities for the Muslims in Ramadhan.
In ISM there is also not as many activities apart from the normal routine activities of the monthly divisional, branches and council meetings. I now have the time to reminisce on the past two months since taking over the presidency in late June 2009.
I wished to informed members on activities carried out in the month of June 2009. Surveyors' Congress that marked the end of the last session held on 18 & 19 June 2009 was a blast with Tun Mahathir as our guest of honor and key note speaker. Tun was such a gentleman and a real statesman. He was not feeling well that morning having to undergo medical check-up but he had his man informed us of the possibility of a 10-minutes delay which at the end he was at the hotel right on time (I remember feeling my heart dropped on the floor and picking it back when he arrived!!). The response from members was overwhelmed surpassing the target set. The AGM held on 20 June 2009 with active participation from members and the dinner was meaningful because many senior members attended. As such I wish to thank all the members for the support. It makes all the hard work, every drop of sweat and heart burn worth it.
23 June was another hectic day. We had the Congress post-mortem meeting in the morning. Then in the afternoon together with Sr Elvin and his team a press conference for the NREC congress was held. In the evening I attended the Building Industry Presidents' Council (BIPC)comprising presidents of 7 main institutions in the construction industry (i.e. ISM, PAM, IEM, MIP, REHDA, MBAM and ACEM) to discuss on issues to forward to the government.
On 25 June, ISM played host to a group of French students who will be assimilated in several GLS companies and universities for a few months. Then on 26 June, I attended the MIEA dinner and was pleasantly surprise that their newly elected president is also a lady - we bonded. On 30 June I attended the discussion held in CIDB with regards to the issue of stamp duty which BIPC had forward a memorandum to the government.
So that sums up the activities of the President in June 2009. I hope to find time to sum up the activities in July and August 2009 for the members' information. Till we meet again salam hormat.
In ISM there is also not as many activities apart from the normal routine activities of the monthly divisional, branches and council meetings. I now have the time to reminisce on the past two months since taking over the presidency in late June 2009.
I wished to informed members on activities carried out in the month of June 2009. Surveyors' Congress that marked the end of the last session held on 18 & 19 June 2009 was a blast with Tun Mahathir as our guest of honor and key note speaker. Tun was such a gentleman and a real statesman. He was not feeling well that morning having to undergo medical check-up but he had his man informed us of the possibility of a 10-minutes delay which at the end he was at the hotel right on time (I remember feeling my heart dropped on the floor and picking it back when he arrived!!). The response from members was overwhelmed surpassing the target set. The AGM held on 20 June 2009 with active participation from members and the dinner was meaningful because many senior members attended. As such I wish to thank all the members for the support. It makes all the hard work, every drop of sweat and heart burn worth it.
23 June was another hectic day. We had the Congress post-mortem meeting in the morning. Then in the afternoon together with Sr Elvin and his team a press conference for the NREC congress was held. In the evening I attended the Building Industry Presidents' Council (BIPC)comprising presidents of 7 main institutions in the construction industry (i.e. ISM, PAM, IEM, MIP, REHDA, MBAM and ACEM) to discuss on issues to forward to the government.
On 25 June, ISM played host to a group of French students who will be assimilated in several GLS companies and universities for a few months. Then on 26 June, I attended the MIEA dinner and was pleasantly surprise that their newly elected president is also a lady - we bonded. On 30 June I attended the discussion held in CIDB with regards to the issue of stamp duty which BIPC had forward a memorandum to the government.
So that sums up the activities of the President in June 2009. I hope to find time to sum up the activities in July and August 2009 for the members' information. Till we meet again salam hormat.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Update 1
Here we are - the President corner created by ISM for the President to have her musing, thoughts and council news. I have to admit this is my first time blogging. I was just getting used to Yahoo messenger to chat with friends when there's friendster, facebook and then twitter. I heard there's some other new stuff.
Anyway I think it's not too late to wish all Muslim 'Selamat Berpuasa'. In the wake of H1N1 please take care of yourself - take vitamins to boost your immune system. A few of our councilors had a scare of the virus and a few more are down with fever. Lets hope its not the dreadful virus.
We had our 2nd council meeting on 27 August 2009. Since its ramadhan our normal meeting which usually starts at 1.00 change d to 4.00 and we finished with the breaking of fast. We had our normal discussion with regards to all the working committees, boards, branches and divisions. In addition we also discussed with regards to initiatives and effort to achieve the goals the we set for this session.
We have set ourselves 3 main goals - (1) To upgrade and modernize ISM secretariat (2) Increase awareness and publicity of ISM and the profession (3) Increase international exposure. In addition to that our tagline is "EXPANDING ISM COMMUNITIES". Since the past 2 months so much had happen and I am not able to write due to time constraint. But I hope as the days pass, I would be able to share with you these experiences and update on incoming events in ISM.
So do drop me a line - or whatever term bloggers used.
Salam
Sr Wan Maimun Wan Abdullah
28 Aug 2009
Anyway I think it's not too late to wish all Muslim 'Selamat Berpuasa'. In the wake of H1N1 please take care of yourself - take vitamins to boost your immune system. A few of our councilors had a scare of the virus and a few more are down with fever. Lets hope its not the dreadful virus.
We had our 2nd council meeting on 27 August 2009. Since its ramadhan our normal meeting which usually starts at 1.00 change d to 4.00 and we finished with the breaking of fast. We had our normal discussion with regards to all the working committees, boards, branches and divisions. In addition we also discussed with regards to initiatives and effort to achieve the goals the we set for this session.
We have set ourselves 3 main goals - (1) To upgrade and modernize ISM secretariat (2) Increase awareness and publicity of ISM and the profession (3) Increase international exposure. In addition to that our tagline is "EXPANDING ISM COMMUNITIES". Since the past 2 months so much had happen and I am not able to write due to time constraint. But I hope as the days pass, I would be able to share with you these experiences and update on incoming events in ISM.
So do drop me a line - or whatever term bloggers used.
Salam
Sr Wan Maimun Wan Abdullah
28 Aug 2009
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
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