Er Ong Ser Huan, President IES,

Council Members of IES,

Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen:

My wife and I are glad to join you for the 32^nd Annual D&D of the Institution of Engineers, Singapore.

Singapore must take the necessary steps to ensure that we remain competitive, both in the short term as well as in the long run when the region recovers. To face up to strong competition, our businesses and industries will have to be more productive in order to cut costs. We must also be more innovative in providing quality products and services to justify the premium that we charge over our low-cost competitors. And we should continue to explore new markets for our products and services.

One of the strategies to be competitive is to prepare ourselves for the global trend towards a new "knowledge economy", one in which knowledge and intellectual capital will matter more than traditional capital and labour. Trained manpower will increasingly play a critical role in contributing to our nation’s growth and wealth. Engineers, in particular, have an important role to play in this "knowledge economy".

For the continued growth of our economy, Singapore needs an ample pool of engineers. It is envisaged that there will be a shortage of engineers in certain disciplines like chemical engineering and for research and development (R&D) work if concrete steps are not taken to train more engineering professionals. Accordingly, NTU plans to raise its intake of engineering undergraduates by 10% -- from 2,000 undergraduates presently to about 2,200 from the next academic year. NUS has an engineering intake of about 1,100 this year. NUS plans to continue raising its engineering intake till it reaches about 1,300 in three years’ time.

In many ways, engineering is the driving force for the economy, an engine of growth. Indeed, this has been so from the late 1960s when Singapore’s industrialisation programme took off in a big way, right through the computerisation and IT waves of the 1980s and 1990s. The engineering profession also contributed significantly to various large-scale infrastructure projects, from airport development to public housing. Despite this, and the fact that engineers earn comparable salaries to the other professions, there seems to be a misconception that the status and remuneration of engineers are lower than that of, say, lawyers and doctors.

There are some possible explanations for this perception. First, the size of the engineering profession is very large. With a large pool of younger engineers, the average remuneration is lower. Second, the large intake every year means more competition. Only the best command top salaries. Third, as engineers advance in their career paths, they become known as managers, directors or CEOs and are no longer identified as engineers. And fourth, it is only recently that new technologies offer opportunities for many of our talented engineers to fully exploit their potential. We should see many more technopreneurs in our midst in the years ahead.

In this technological age, an engineering education is clearly an asset. Even if an individual does not wish to have a lifelong career in engineering, an engineering education will still equip him or her with valuable skills to do well in most other endeavours. This is because engineering courses provide training in analytical skills and logical thinking, which are valuable skills for virtually any chosen career in life.

Society’s perception and attitude towards engineers will change with time and with greater awareness of the engineering profession’s true contributions to Singapore’s progress and development. In the meantime, more talented students must be encouraged to take up engineering so as to meet the demands of the "knowledge economy". In this regard, I am glad to note that IES has taken the initiative to address this problem area. For instance, IES conducts school visits to encourage A-level students to consider careers in engineering. In March this year, IES also organised a National Engineers Week to increase awareness of the opportunities offered by the profession.

I would now like to briefly address the challenges facing engineers in the construction industry. Among the three major economic sectors in which engineers play a major role, namely, manufacturing, services, and construction sector, the perception is that engineers in the construction sector will face the toughest challenge because of the economic meltdown in the region.

The Government is trying to alleviate the situation by bringing forward some major infrastructural projects. On your part, engineers and engineering firms in the construction business should build up your capabilities so that when the region recovers you can capitalise on the vast opportunities that will unfold.

It is common to hear feedback from our engineers that they are hampered from venturing overseas because they do not have a track record when it comes to major infrastructure projects. This setback can be overcome if you form strategic alliances with other major world players in bidding for regional projects. Singapore firms could be the third partner in such joint-venture projects. Your cultural familiarity with the region as well as your involvement, whether large or small, in Singapore’s world-class infrastructure for land, sea and air transportation facilities and in public housing must surely count as valuable assets. As a third joint-venture partner, Singapore engineers can play an effective role as either project manager or integrator in, say, engineering design and construction. Alternatively, Singapore engineers can also team up with government-linked companies or GLCs in bidding for overseas projects.

Another factor favouring partnerships is the openness of the Singapore market which makes it attractive for overseas players to establish a presence here. Invariably, such firms would recruit Singapore engineers as their employees or partners for regional projects. Singapore engineers should therefore welcome the inflow of foreign talent as it provides the much-needed specialist knowledge, management skills and track record to help in our own plans to go regional. Singapore engineers will be able to benchmark themselves with the best in the world.

While it is true that the current economic crisis has brought a slowdown to new infrastructural projects in some countries in the region, there are still opportunities to be ferreted. By venturing into such joint venture projects now, Singapore firms will be enhancing their capabilities so as to give themselves a clear headstart when the region recovers.

Ladies and gentlemen, Singapore’s economy has performed well in the past three decades. We have attained high standards in many fields, including infrastructure building, manufacturing and in the various service industries. The engineering profession has played a very significant part in this progress and will continue to do so in the future.

I am therefore encouraged to note that IES, together with the Association of Consulting Engineers, Singapore, has initiated a detailed study of the problems and challenges facing the construction industry. I hope that concrete plans may be worked out and action taken to upgrade the industry so as propel our engineering firms into the region and beyond.

On another front, I am heartened to note that IES is making an effort to contribute to society in general through its involvement in community services, such as the building and management of homes for the aged sick. Your care and concern for our less fortunate fellow citizens is indeed commendable.

Finally, I extend my congratulations to winners of the IES awards for the top engineering graduates from NUS and NTU. You have done yourselves and your families proud, and I am confident that you will do the same for the engineering profession.

Ladies and gentlemen, I wish you all a very pleasant evening. Thank you.

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