NOVEMBER 5 — An engineer cannot be old and poor. The term engineer is derived from the Latin Word ‘Ingeniator’ meaning, an Ingenious Person. An ingenious person is a person who is imaginative, intelligent, inventive and inspired. It takes 20 years if one is to be successful and rich according to Dr. Dobbins, in his book on self-made millionaires. It is slow but sure by establishing a specialisation, has an area of excellence, creativity and gets the marketing right. He/she must implement a winning business strategy, be excellent at selling, and manage his/her time and life well. Today is to be better than yesterday. How does an engineer fit in any of these roles?
Hopefully, the engineers are not like those who achieve nothing in their lifetimes, accepting they are born into a world of low expectations and achievements. Somebody gives them a job, get a couple of promotions, retire on a peanut pension and die shortly afterwards with just enough cash to cover the funeral bill. This could be the worst-case scenario. This may be probably the case for some, because unlike in the yesteryears when the engineer was the independent craftsman held in high regard by the society and personally identifiable. It is not so these days. Presently, an engineer is now less visible to the public. Technology is the domain of the ‘corporation’. An engineer becomes anonymous focusing on serving the organisation rather than the public. They remain as employees.
They can beat the odds by sticking to the very real definition of an engineer that is imaginative,
intelligent, inventive and inspired. This can be achieved by becoming a true professional. So long as the individual is looked upon as an employee rather than as a free artisan, to that extent, there is no professional status. The seemingly low salary of engineers will not attract the best talents, however. It will be a hindrance to the development of an employee to a professional who can best serve the public.
The inflation rate in Malaysia averaged 3.40 per cent from 1973 until 2021, reaching an all-time high of 23.90 per cent in March of 1974. Over the past 20 years, however the engineers’ pay remains the same, in the Klang valley presently they are hardly managing with RM2,500 per month. In Malaysia, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) has been increasing from 23.7 in 1971 to 120.1 in 2020. In the USA, the CPI has increased to 117.46 for the 1950-2020 period with the average salary of engineers as US 5,069 per month. Observe the discrepancy.
The problem lies in the whole gamut of socio-technical issues. The learning experience of an engineer begins at the kindergarten with the start of learning, basic tools learning, directed learning and ends at exploratory learning in the tertiary education. It should produce a well-rounded individual with technical and moral competence. Assuming it is so, let us focus here, on the challenges at the workplace. It must be realised that an engineer has to formulate the statement of the problem himself and find the solution rather than answering questions in the examinations unlike in his university days. Then of course, the starting pay as mentioned, can be the first stumbling block. If it involves Government sectors, any increase will require streamlining with the rest and all. Remember the case, with the exodus of Professors to the neighbouring country years ago. The local academics had a hefty pay increase, causing the alignment with other government servants as well. So JUSA C became not the ownership of Professors alone. Similarly, any increase in the engineer’s salary will have the rippling effect on the other professionals in service.
Anyway, despite the low salary, there is a way around it. An engineer should be looking at what a company can offer instead, in terms of training, mentorship and professional development. A civil engineer, for example, should try to gain as much experience as possible in the design, fabrication and installation at the site, completing his learning curve for developing technical and judgement skills.
Then, he/she should be learning from A to Z, which a particular company can offer say, in structures, then move to another which has their niche in foundations and to others with different specialities.
Upon becoming a Professional Engineer, pretty soon he can set up his own company wiping out the earlier setbacks in his/her salary.
Of course, it is too naïve to say that here, in our beloved country, that you know ‘what’ is more important than you know ‘who’. This the harsh realities of life. If an engineer A is approached for a questionable project is saying no but another, Engineer B says yes. We are in trouble. We however, seem to lose that fraternity among us. The ethical rope breaks. But are engineers expected to manifest higher ethical conduct than the norm throughout the society? Finally, to get away from it all, another alternative is to seek opportunities overseas as individual engineers or companies. Partnerships with overseas counterparts can be formed, though such practices may not necessarily absent either. The total global construction market is estimated to be US$3.2 trillion (RM13.3 trillion) per year. That makes for 5-7 per cent of
developed countries GDP and a 2-3 per cent of developing countries GDP. The world is waiting for engineers with professional and moral competence. However, it involves periodic and long leaves of absence from home. So if you cannot get away from ‘roti canai’ and ‘nasi lemak’, forget about it.
*The writer has been a civil engineer since 1980 and has earned dual PhD degrees in Engineering and Education.
**This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.
