Update 14

My speech at the Launching of the Commemorative Book and ISM Wikipedia
Crowne Plaza Mutiara Hotel, Kuala Lumpur
Institution of Surveyors Malaysia (ISM)
17th February, 2011

Terima Kasih Saudari Pengacara Majlis, Yang Berhormat Senator Dato’ Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, Menteri Pembangunan Wanita, Keluarga dan Masyarakat Malaysia, Yang Berusaha Associate Professor Sr Dr Hjh Wan Maimun Wan Abdullah, Pengerusi Majlis Pelancaran Buku Commemorative dan Wikipedia ISM, Presiden Presiden dan wakil wakil perbadanan professional Bekas Presiden Bekas Presiden Pertubuhan Jurukur Malaysia, Ahli Ahli Majlis ISM, Para Tetamu Jemputan, Datuk Datuk, Datin Datin, Wakil Wakil media dan tuan tuan dan puan puan yang saya hormati.

Selamat Pagi dan salam sejahtera,

Thank you Yang Berhormat Dato’ Seri for once again being our guest of honour at a major event of ours. You were our guest of honour at our last Annual Dinner which we held on the 19 of June and at which event I commenced my role as President of the 50th Session of the Institution of Surveyors Malaysia.

At that Annual Dinner i set two goals for my one year term as President and i am happy to report to all present and especially to all members of the Institution that the foundations for the two goals have been firmly laid. The first goal was the internationalisation of the Institution of Surveyors and this we wanted to do, especially at our 50th year, because we felt and still strongly do, that we are robust enough as a surveying profession to go forward, especially in the Asian region to provide leadership and assistance in strengthening the profession with information, training, research and education. On the 18th of December we held an extraordinary general meeting and managed to muster enough votes (2/3rd the membership) to create a new class of membership know as an Associate Member. These members will essentially be non-Malaysian Surveyors, practicing surveying in the countries outside Malaysia and who wish to part of the Institution of Surveyors Malaysia. Thus, the Internationalisation of the Institution. Until quite recently Malaysian Surveyors have played significant leadership roles as individuals in international surveying organisations, but this new step is for the institution itself to go beyond our borders. It is fitting that we have chosen the 50th year to do that. No doubt much work needs to be done to accomplish all that we desire, insofar as this goal of ours is concerned. But the foundation has been laid.

My second stated goal was to enhance the capabilities of the Secretariat because in our system of yearly rotation of Presidents between Divisions, and the yearly election of Councils there is a weakness in that the rotation needs extraordinary Management. To shore up that lacuna and to get the necessary added boost needed to bring forward our goal of Internationalisation, as well as to play a more meaningful role in policy formulation and implementation for the surveying profession, the property market, the construction industry, and to offer policy recommendations affecting the areas of our concerns and interest to government agencies and departments, we have employed a full time Chief Executive Officer, who is an experienced Surveyor herself to ensure that that foundation is also laid. Without a strong Secretariat, our system of a yearly rotational presidency and council is insufficiently robust for continuity of purpose.

But today, it is all about our 50th year of existence as a formal surveying organization, uniting the surveying disciplines of Geomatic and land surveying, Quantity surveying, Property management, Valuation and Estate Agency surveying and Building surveying. The Commemorative Book that will be launched by Yang Berhormat Dato’ Seri, as a forerunner to our celebrations, has been in the works for the past two years, under a special steering committee, that has and is overseeing our year round and nationwide celebrations by our four Divisions and our Branches in Sabah, Sarawak, Johor, East Coast and the Northern branch. Many events are planned and starting to be implemented and they include seminars and congresses, family gatherings, public participation events and charity events.

Today we also launch our Wikipedia, which comes hot on the heels of the transformation of our website into a portal. For the creation of the portal we must thank the government for the Mida grants they gave us. The Mida grants have also enabled us to do a substantial amount of capacity building in the profession, as was the desired objective of the government when the grants to various professional bodies were given out. I think that these grants should become annual grants and the reason i say this is because just like households which are well regarded as building blocks in society, so too must greater regard be given to another important building block, the professional firms as they strive to build domestic and global practices that will enhance the needed soft infrastructure of the country.

On this auspicious day for the Institution, I would also like to take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank all the Past Presidents of the Institution who have come one after the other, and laid, layer by layer, the accumulated benefits the Institution now enjoys, and upon which it sits firmly, and confidently, to play an even more meaningful role in serving the Malaysian public, and the Surveying profession, domestically and internationally. I also thank all past Councils and all members who have contributed to the successes of the Institution of Surveyors thus far. A big thank you and happy birthday.

Sebelum mengakhiri ucapan saya, saya ingin mengucapkan,

Terima Kasih kepada Yang Berhormat Dato’ Seri Sharizat yang sudi datang untuk pembukaan Majlis ini.

Terima Kasih kepada Pengerusi Majlis kerana memberi peluang kepada saya untuk memberi ucapan dan segala persediaan dan pengelolaan Majlis ini.

Terima Kasih kepada Datuk Datuk, Datin Datin, Tuan Tuan dan Puan Puan dan wakil wakil media untuk kehadirian supaya Majlis ini berjaya dilaksanakan.

Terima Kasih

Update 13

In the spirit of 1Malaysia, here’s wishing all ISM members a happy Chinese New Year, and not forgetting a happy 50th Birthday.

We are having a kick off event for our 50th year celebrations on 17 February 2011 at 9.00am on the 30th Floor, Crowne Plaza Mutiara Hotel, Kuala Lumpur. This event will officially also launch our year long 50th celebrations, and at the event we will launch our Commemorative Book which we have worked for more than two years, to prepare. Many thanks to the steering committee, the editors and the printers and all those who came forward and taken pains to contribute towards this publication. It is hoped that all members will feel proud when you get to see and own a copy after the 17 February 2011. We will also be launching, on that day the ISM Wikipedia. Big day for ISM.

The event will be graced by Y.B Senator Dato’ Sri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil and we are also having Dr. Yeah Kim Leng to speak on Malaysia’s Transforming Socio-Economic Landscape.

We have also taken a bold step towards putting ISM in the premier league internationally and to further our ambitions on Internationalisation. This step comes in the form of an appointment of a Chief Executive Officer on a contract basis for two years and with strict KPI’s on performance. With this we hope that our ambitions of being in the forefront of policy formulation and implementation with regard to and for the Institute of Surveyors Malaysia, the property market, the construction industry, the surveying profession in general and government will be considerably enhanced.

See you on the 17 of February 2011 at the 30th Floor, Crowne Plaza Mutiara Hotel, Kuala Lumpur.

Update 12

Here’s wishing all ISM members a happy new year and a happy 50th Birthday. As you may be aware, we successfully held the Extraordinary General Meeting on the 18 of December 2010, and at that meeting we passed the following important constitutional and byelaw amendments.

A new class of membership has been created known as Associate Member of ISM or AISM. Persons who are eligible to become Associates are Non-Malaysian surveyors who wish to be part of our Institution. Such members will not have the right to vote nor stand for any office in ISM, but can use the letters after their name and can avail themselves of all facilities and services of ISM.

Broadly, under this Internationalisation of ISM project, we are looking to invite surveyors in ASEAN, India, China, Pakistan and Middle East as our primary target for membership. Surveyors outside the identified area are also welcome. Our Council will be meeting shortly to decide the criteria and modality for suitable qualifications and the application process.

We also changed the name of the Property Consultancy & Surveying Division to the Property Management, Valuation and Estate Agency Surveying Division (PMVS, instead of PCVS).

The third important change was that we have finally managed to reduce the quorum required of the constitutional changes from 1/3 to 1/6 of the membership.

There were also other minor changes and most of this related to previous attempts to change the constitution, but were not accomplished, due to lack of the 1/3 of quorum.

The changes will take effect after approval from the Registrar of Societies.

Going forward we have in the forefront of our agenda the publication of the 50th year Commerative Book. We hope to finalise publication and launch it, ceremoniously, in January 2011 – the first event of our 50 Year Celebration.

We will also be publishing shortly, the calendar of events for the 50 Year events, so that members will be fully aware of all the projects.

Once again Happy New Year and Happy 50th Birthday!

Update 11

ISM India Technical Tour – November 2010


The ISM delegation comprising about 55 persons (Councillors, members, ISM Staff - some with family) arrived New Delhi on 19 November, and on the morning of 20 November a few of us met a delegation of about 10 from the Institution of Surveyors, India (ISI). The delegation from ISI was led by Mr K.S.Kharb who is a Past President of the Institution (The current President, Mr Gautam Kumar Bysack, was also present). We were informed that among all surveying organisations in India, only the ISI had some form of recognition from the Government thus far. Under the Wealth Tax Act (now largely defunct), mainly Engineers, Architects and Town Planners were recognised as Valuers and most banks still use those registered under the Wealth Tax Act as their panel Valuers. We were to later discover more about the pre-eminence of Civil Engineers as basic qualification to become Valuers. The ISI however conducts examinations in each of the Surveying Divisions and currently has a membership of 3,500 and branches in Kolkata, Mumbai and Bangalore. There are no University degree courses as yet in India for the Surveying profession and apart from the examinations set by the ISI the Sardar Patel University (set up by Mr Kirit Bhudbathi on a fairly small scale) offers a master’s degree course in valuation and plant and machinery whilst the Shivaji University in Kohlapur which offers distance learning courses in valuation. A third University, Annamalai University, is planning a valuation course in Chennai. This means great opportunity for Malaysian universities to provide or assist in surveying education in India. Quantity Surveyors are mainly involved in “contracts management and arbitration”.

The ISI group estimated that there is a shortage of about 35,000 Quantity Surveyors, 10,000 Valuers and 5,000 Land Surveyors. They informed us about a Valuers Bill in the making and a Valuation Standards Manual by the Bankers Association. The Land Surveyors in the group were particularly interested in hydrographic surveying and said that they would like some interaction with ISM on this area. There is an All India Council for Technical Education under the Ministry of Human Resources.

They came prepared with a Memorandum of Understanding between ISM and ISI. We informed that that we will table the draft at our Council Meeting and revert to them.

Later, on 20 November we left, in two coaches, for Agra to visit the Seventh Wonder of the World, the Taj Mahal. Since much information on the Taj Mahal can be had from the internet i shall not add my own opinions except to say that to visit New Delhi and not see the Taj Mahal is certainly something that is not done. The journey back and forth and involving an overnight stay is not an easy one, especially for a large group. Due to traffic jams and stoppages we took about 7 hours to reach Agra.


On 22 November, a large delegation of about 25 from ISM met Mr Jaikant Singh (Director) of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. Entry to the Ministry not only involved a long bus journey through heavy traffic but also extremely strict security checks. For almost an hour we were on the roadside while our Indian guide went in and out to secure permission for entry. The meeting itself, later, was cordial and informative. The Ministry is in the process of formulating a Valuers Bill but after much discussion we discovered that the Bill is mainly focussed on Business Valuations rather than Real Estate Valuations. Mr Jaikant did seem to want to know more from us as to the need to include rules for real estate Valuers in the bill and we ought to follow up on this. We will. Datin Faridah made a presentation on INSPEN’s training and education programmes and this was well received. We could follow up on this as well. We were not permitted to take photographs.


That afternoon we met a seven person delegation from the National Housing Bank which is wholly owned by the Reserve Bank of India. The delegation was led by Mr N Udaya Kumar, the Deputy General Manager. They are a similar organisation like CAGAMAS Berhad in Malaysia. They were quite interested in discussing house price issues, indices and training and education. They reinforced some of the information we had from our two previous meetings. Datin Faridah again presented INSPEN’s training and education programmes. We were also informed about a Manual of Valuation Standards that has been drafted by the Association of Banks and they would like us to provide inputs as well and later on do collaborative work on training. An interesting point raised during our discussion was their interest in Reverse Mortgage Loans which are loans against residential properties owned by senior citizens.


The lender of the loan makes periodic payments to the senior citizen during their remaining life time. The senior citizen does not have to repay any principal or interest to the lender during their life time as long as they are in occupation of the property. On the death of the senior citizen or upon him or her leaving the house permanently, the loan along with accumulated interest is settled through the sale of the house. For this scheme to work no doubt valuations and periodic updates are critical and thus their added interest in Valuation Standards.


On 23 November we left for Mumbai. On arrival in Mumbai the first stop, on the way to the hotel, was in front of Dato Shahrukh Khan’s house!

On 24 November we had had three meetings. In the morning a small delegation left to meet with The Securities and Exchange Board of India or SEBI. It was in new building with state-of-the art conference room and facilities. We were given a briefing that covered the regulatory architecture in the securities market in India, The scope and functions of SEBI and an overview of the Indian Capital Markets. What stuck us was that unlike in Malaysia they did not vet (pre or post) Valuers reports. Generally they looked to the Accountants who in turn were held responsible for Valuers reports and valuation accuracy. We did highlight that difference to them and we can see possibilities for engagement with them on this issue as well as in Standards, education and training. We also discussed REITs and Real Estate Derivatives and not our scope for future interaction. Datin Faridah did her usual presentation in INSPEN and it was well received.

In the afternoon, we met a large delegation from the Practising Valuers Association of India (PVAI) and immediately after that Mr Kirit Bhudbathi who is a well-known Indian Valuer who is very familiar to many Malaysian Valuers as he has visited Malaysia many times and presented CPD talks, presented seminar papers and is an authority on plant and machinery valuations. He was the founder of the Sardar Patel University and many Valuers from the JPPH have attended courses there.

The technical parts of the tour ended with these meetings and some went on for the third leg of the tour, a visit to Goa. In the above narrative I have not included many social aspects of the tour and the shopping trip and this I leave to others who went on the tour to add on. Comments are welcome.

We will be following up with the parties we met and we hope to continue dialogue and interaction with them.

Update 10

Three matters lie ahead for me in the next two months. Matter one is ISM’s 60-person trip to New Delhi, Mumbai and Goa starting this Saturday. I will post daily blogs from India.

Matter two is the ISM EGM coming up on 18 December where we will be seeking approval from the membership to internationalise ISM and to change the name of the PCVS Division to the Property Management, Valuation and Estate Agency Surveying Division (PMVS). This change in name was requested by the Division and Council has agreed. We usually need sufficient proxy votes to have a quorum for constitutional changes, one third of membership, and we are asking all ISM members and fellows to send in their proxy forms. Even if you intend to come on that day, it will be appreciated if you could nonetheless send in the proxy form as this will help us to know, ahead of the EGM, if the EGM will go on, with sufficient quorum. On the day of EGM, when you turn up, the proxy form that you send now will automatically become invalid. Please help the council in this matter as there has been many attempted EGM’s that have been aborted due to lack of quorum.

Matter 3 is to inform you of the preparation of the production of a commerative book in conjunction of the 50^th anniversary of ISM. In this connection, all members and fellows are urged to send the special levy of RM75 per member and RM150 per fellow as agreed at the EGM in June 2010 together with your annual subscription for 2010.

Here’s wishing you a happy 50^th Birthday.