Oleh/By : DATO' SERI DR. MAHATHIR BIN MOHAMAD
Tempat/Venue : TAMAN SHAMELIN PERKASA, CHERAS
Tarikh/Date : 31/05/94
Tajuk/Title : THE OPENING CEREMONY OF THE GERMAN-
MALAYSIAN INSTITUTE
Terlebih dahulu saya mengucapkan terima kasih kepada
pihak German-Malaysian Institute (GMI) kerana menjemput saya
untuk merasmikan pembukaan GMI pada hari ini. Saya gembira
bahawa GMI, hasil kerjasama dua hala di antara Malaysia dan
Jerman, akan memainkan peranan penting dalam pembangunan
tenaga mahir di peringkat tinggi di masa akan datang.
2. Allow me to extend a warm welcome to the Honourable
Carl-Dieter Spranger, Minister of Economic Cooperation of
the Federal Republic of Germany and his delegation to
Malaysia. I am glad that he is with us to witness the
official launch of the GMI.
3. The opening of the GMI is of great significance to
Malaysia. Firstly, the opening of the GMI represents
another milestone in our continuing effort to invest in
human capital formation in order to realise higher levels of
economic growth and human development. Secondly, it is yet
another example of how international cooperation, if well
intended and conceived, can be of mutual benefit to all
parties.
4. The GMI, as its name suggests, is born out of
bilateral cooperation. It has taken cognisance of and has
tried to bridge the Malaysian Government's concern for
training avenues for potential Malaysian craftsmen with
Germany's well-known comparative advantage in precision and
production technology, vocational training, and specialised
instructors. The GMI is also a hybrid between factory and
school -- a teaching factory so to speak. It seeks to
combine theory and practice in one so that its trainees are
assured of entering the world of work without the fear of
job mismatch.
5. The GMI will be one of the main providers of highly
skilled technicians. Although when fully operational in
1998, GMI's total capacity is expected to be only 450,
nevertheless the role of the GMI in creating and augmenting
the supply of trained manpower at the advanced level cannot
be understated. What is desired is that with the highest
standards of teaching provided, coupled with
state-of-the-art equipment, the GMI will be able to
contribute towards improving the quality of our workforce.
6. The quality of the workforce is essentially the
decisive element in a country's road to economic success and
prosperity. Improving the quality of the workforce is, in a
nutshell, what human resource development (HRD) is all
about.
7. The Malaysian Government places strong emphasis on
human resource development because of our belief that the
population represents our ultimate resource. Under the
Sixth Malaysia Plan, about 13 percent of the Federal
Government development budget has been allocated for
education and training. This is a relatively high
proportion of development expenditure, and compares very
favourably by all international standards.
8. The education and training of the country's workforce
involves many role players. In addition to the Government,
other key actors include employers, workers, schools,
training institutions, unions and even parents. Skill
development is, however, very often perceived as the domain
and responsibility of the Government.
9. Workers too must realise their own HRD
responsibilities. If our workers are to adapt to the new
work environment, they must begin to play their part in
materialising that training culture. Workers must
constantly improve their skills and develop new skills,
thereby preparing for the changes that technology will bring
to the shop floor. It is through simply higher productivity
growth that workers will be able to improve their real
incomes. Workers should seek to improve their standard of
living not through simply demanding higher wages but through
improving their productivity. Productivity comes not only
through the use of more capital, better work organisation,
and proper work attitudes but more importantly by workers
and their employers investing in skill development.
10. Even as developing countries such as Malaysia continue
to emphasise the importance of cost competitiveness and the
need to promote productivity through hard work and
sacrifices, there are attempts by some to link trade with
international labour standards. If these attempts succeed,
income for a few may go up, but most are likely to be
unemployed. The disparity between the rich and the poor
will be enhanced.
11. An integral part of competence is social competency,
and this has to be emphasised because it touches on our core
value system. The development of the values and attitudes of
the country's manpower must become a necessary component of
all training programmes.
12. Looking a little into the future, I see a lot of
opportunities for the GMI. Although the current mandate of
GMI is to produce highly skilled technicians for industry,
training institutions like the GMI should consider creating
linkages with institutions of higher technical education
offering degree-level education with a view to providing
avenues for their graduates to enhance their education and
skills. Such linkages will also strengthen the practical and
industrial exposure of the engineers who graduate from these
institutions, in view of the combination of practical
training at GMI and further academic education at the
University level.
13. It was recently found in many developed industrialised
countries that nearly half of the skill of technical workers
become obsolete within three to seven years of formal
education and training. This phenomenon, which is largely
due to the rapidity of technological change, has resulted in
rapidly changing job content. It is for this reason, among
others, that skill delivery institutions must institute
greater collaboration with industry in order to keep pace
with technological advances in industry and their
corresponding manpower needs.
14. It is heartening to see among the audience, parents of
GMI students. I am sure that your presence here is testimony
to your acceptance of vocational and skill training as an
excellent option for career development and advancement of
your children. The standards required for skilled training
are also getting higher with advances in technology. This
means that those who are accepted into vocational and
technical training institutes must also be academically
good. Skill training is no longer meant for the school
dropout. We must change our bias against blue-collar jobs
and vocational training if we are to successfully walk the
next mile.
15. The setting up of the GMI comes at a very fortuitous
period of Malaysia's economic history. The economy is
currently experiencing high growth and its prospects remain
good. Jobs are plentiful and the growth of industrial jobs
has been even better. I sincerely hope that the setting up
of the GMI as well as the implementation of various other
efforts to improve our human resources will bear fruit.
16. Dengan kata-kata ini saya dengan sukacitanya merasmikan
pembukaan the German-Malaysian Institute.
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