Cheaper construction material. Keywords: estimating, steel, materials

Salam and dear all, Media reports revealed that prices of key construction materials are getting cheaper. For example, The Star 11th June 2009 (http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/6/11/business/4090489&sec=business) quoted the group managing director of a property development company based in Penang of saying that: steel is now about RM2,000 per tonne (about RM4,000 earlier this year) and the prices of other materials have dropped by about 30% compared with earlier this year. Wassalam.

8th MiCRA 2009

Salam and dear all, The 8th MiCRA Conference was successfully held on 9th-10th June 2009 at Universiti Sains Malaysia. During the annual meeting, Assoc. Prof Dr Hisham Arifin of UiTM was elected as Chair for Session 2009-10 and UiTM hosts the 9th MiCRA in 2010. The following is my address, in my capacity as Chair for the Sessions 2007-08 and 2008-09. Assalamualikum and dear all, Construction Innovation: Sustaining the Practice In the context of construction, the concept of innovation should be applied to the entire process of construction procurement and its supply chain, i.e. from initiating a facility to maintenance and re-furbishing the facility or its demolition and to re-build a new facility. In addition, innovation should be a two pronged effort: (i) to look at newer ways to the current ways of ‘constructing’; and (ii) to look at doing newer ‘construction’, be it in design, technology, physical construction on the site, labor, material, plant and equipment, management, concepts, etc and in newer ways of thinking about construction. The critical test on the outcome of innovation in construction should be whether the resulting newer ways of ‘constructing’ or newer ‘construction’ brings about benefits to key stakeholders in terms of time, cost and quality/performance; and to others a ‘better built environment.’ Furthermore, ideas and tangible outputs on innovation in construction should not be kept away from others. Such ideas and outputs should be given due recognition and reports on them should be published so as to create awareness and to encourage applications. Consequently, academics, researchers and practicing colleagues should double-up efforts and collaborate in initiating and sustaining the practice of construction innovation and in sharing research ideas, outputs and newer practices, the latter through conferences and publication. It is in the name of research collaboration and in publication that MiCRA was initiated in 2001, i.e. to enhance collaborations in construction research among academics and researchers, between academics, researchers and practitioners and through its annual conference, to recognize works done and to disseminate newer thinking on construction in Malaysia and elsewhere. Alhamdullillah, MiCRA has been able to sustain its existence. This year’s conference marked the 8th successive year that MiCRA has been able to stage its annual conference. To this end, I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to Universiti Sains Malaysia, its School of Housing, Building and Planning (HBP), the Dean of HBP Professor Mahyuddin Ramli, and to MiCRA’s 2009 Chair Dr Shardy Abdullah and his organizing committee members for agreeing to be this year’s host and to stage the conference successfully. Last but not least I would like to say many thanks to authors, presenters, participants and others for making MiCRA 2009 a success and hopefully to provide similar support to MiCRA for years to come. Wassalam. Professor Sr. Dr. Khairuddin Bin Abdul Rashid Chair, MiCRA (session 2007-08; caretaker chair, session 2008-09)

Ethics, integrity and professionalism among 'profesionals'

Salam and dear all, The article below refers to ethics, integrity and professionalism among the 'professionals' including quantity surveyors. It is an abridged version of the 'EDITORIAL: The collapse of professionalism' taken from the New Straits Times, 4th June 2009 (http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Thursday/Columns/2573581/Article/index_html). Referring to the stadium incident at Gong Badak, Terengganu (see my earlier posting), ... the Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin pointed out, when new buildings collapse just like that, "it does not show professionalism". And in the construction process, while the architects and engineers are as much hired hands as the carpenters and bricklayers, the responsibility for the integrity of the structures that are put up is ultimately theirs. In the first place, they prepare the designs and the building plans. They also supervise the construction at the site and certify that work has been completed in accordance with the approved plan. Of course, contractors, sub-contractors and the building control authorities are not always blameless. But every time a building turns into a heap of rubble, we also lose a little more of the trust that we still have for the expertise and ethics of the architects and engineers. It is time for the professional associations and the statutory bodies to step up and act on any failure to carry out their duties with due care and diligence in accordance with the laws and ethics that govern their professions. Wassalam.

KT Stadium's roof collapsed. Keywords: contractor, CF, defects liability period, health & safety, open tender, maintenance, warranty

Salam and dear all, The roof of the newly completed Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium in Terengganu collapsed yesterday. According to media reports, the stadium, located at Gong Badak, was built at an initial cost of RM250 million but the cost surged to RM300 million due to the increased in material prices. The roof, costing RM38 million, was constructed by a contractor selected through an open tender. Damages is estimated at RM25 million. The stadium complex, officially handed over to the Government seven months ago, was issued with a CF and is still under warranty. Source: various media reports, 3rd June 2009. Wassalam.

Students must Think NOT just Memorize, active NOT passive

Salam and dear all,

The following notes, taken from an article 'Need to produce thinking students' by Nik Roskiman Abdul Samad, IKIM Views, The Star Online, 3rd June 2009 (http://thestar.com.my) talks about the 'ills' of the current approach in teaching and learning and of the needs for students to be taught on how to think;

... Education is not about teaching particular “subjects”. Neither it is about the number of subjects taught in schools. It is about nurturing a human being to be a “good man”.

Modern students today are certainly taught more subjects, but that does not mean they are actually “good” or know more; nor does it mean they are better equipped than those before them.

Compared with students of the Athenean Middle Ages, who only studied three subjects at the trivium and four subjects at the quadrivium, for example, today’s students should perform better, considering their intellectual growth.

But this is not the case. Many a time an interview panel is frustrated with the performance of our graduates, despite their having spent more than a decade at the primary and secondary education levels and approximately four years at the tertiary level.

They certainly “studied” hundreds of subjects and, yet, they do not know the basics, have no confidence in speaking, no critical and logical thought when arguing, have no common sense, rational thought and so on. Why?

Because they had never been taught to think, how to use reason or how to argue during their entire “formal” education.

The only reason they have succeeded thus far is, perhaps, purely because they were good at memorising data – not that their intellect has been developed...

Wassalam.