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Oleh/By: : DATO' SERI DR.
MAHATHIR BIN MOHAMAD
Tempat/Venue : THE PALACE OF THE GOLDEN HORSES
Tarikh/Date : 11/07/2000
Tajuk/Title : THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE
MALAYSIAN STRUCTURAL STEEL
ASSOCIATION CONVENTION 2000
I wish to thank the Malaysian Structural Steel
Association for inviting me to declare open the
Malaysian Structural Steel Association Convention 2000
here today.
2. I understand that members of the Malaysian
Structural Steel Association consist of professionals
and practitioners from various Government agencies and
the private sector. This convention is timely as it
will be a good platform to promote the members'
interest in encouraging the use of local steel products
in the country.
3. Our country's economy has recovered substantially
during the first quarter of this year and we look
forward to sustaining it. Various organisations within
the country and also abroad have predicted that our
economic growth will be in the region of five to six
per cent this year. And yet only a couple of years ago
everybody predicted our economy would continue to
plunge deeper. We were criticised for daring to be
different and independent in our approach and thinking.
However, due to our selective controls and economic
measures we managed to come out of the slump
successfully. Now the prophets of doom have also
acknowledged that Malaysia's capital control has
resulted in a positive turn-around and growth of the
country's economy. Our recovery is also broad-based
and, very importantly, we have avoided the social costs
and massive indebtedness to international agencies
which other countries have to deal with.
4. However, Malaysians cannot afford to be
complacent. There are new challenges which must be
faced. Globalisation and a borderless world will bring
unprecedented competition in all sectors of the
economy.
5. One reason why Malaysia has been able to overcome
the recent economic turmoil is the strong support of
the people, especially the business community, for the
Government. They remained calm as the Government tried
to sort things out, to find its own formula for
recovery and to apply the formula effectively.
6. The construction industry in Malaysia is big and
contributes substantially to the growth and development
of the economy. During the turmoil the industry slowed
down, putting contractors, building material producers
and suppliers and many others into serious
difficulties. There was a huge property overhang.
Unless it is got rid off, the industry could not be
revived.
7. As soon as currency controls were in place the
Government promoted property ownership through several
sales campaigns. With lowered interest and the
Government foregoing certain taxes, much of the
overhang has been reduced. This enabled old
construction projects to be restarted and new ones
launched. The Government for its part revived or
restarted projects which had been halted due to the
downturn, while starting many new projects. With these
measures the construction industry has become vibrant
again, pulling along with it many related economic
activities.
8. The Government is confident that the construction
industry will continue to sustain itself for many years
to come. However, we need to review our past
performance and address the shortcomings.
9. Steel is one of the most important construction
materials today. Its application continues to grow and
to diversify. Where before buildings were of bricks
and mortar today ferro-concrete is the material of
choice. In other countries steel-frame buildings are
preferred. Although more expensive, steel-frame
buildings are faster to build. In Malaysia there are a
number of steel-frame buildings but the numbers are not
big enough to create demand for steel sections and
boost the steel industry.
10. A steel industry used to be regarded as the
measure of a country's level of development. The more
sophisticated the steel industry of a nation, the
higher is its level of industrialisation. Today in the
Information Age an advanced steel industry is not
necessarily a measure of a country's development.
Nevertheless steel continues to be important for the
physical development of a nation. The consumption of
steel in a developed country remains high. While we
focus on the K-economy we cannot neglect our steel
industry.
11. As a developing country Malaysia's consumption of
steel is low. This low consumption cannot support a
viable steel industry. Besides, the international
market for steel is very highly competitive. Dumping
of products by the big economies makes it difficult for
a viable steel industry to thrive in a country like
Malaysia where imports are cheap by comparison to local
products. On the other hand if the local industry is
protected, users of steel would be burdened with high
costs. And we export a lot of products which use
steel.
12. As the country gets richer consumption of steel is
bound to increase. However consumption can be
increased by deliberately using more steel in
construction for example. Where possible steel frame
buildings should be preferred. There is even a good
possibility for innovations in the use of steel
sections produced locally. Malaysia's lower cost and
highly skilled labour can be utilised to fabricate
steel products not only for the local market but for
exports as well. Already Malaysians are fabricating
and exporting cranes, oil rigs and modules and parts of
chemical plants and oil mills. There must be a lot of
other fabricated products of steel which Malaysian
engineering companies can produce for the local market
as well as exports.
13. Malaysian industrialists and their engineers must
look around for more products which they can fabricate
for local use and for exports. Some of the steel may
not be available in Malaysia and it will be necessary
to import. But when the consumption is big enough we
can go into local production.
14. Innovation in the use of steel for construction is
very important. Malaysians are very conservative and
lack confidence in themselves. They will not try
anything that has not been approved by the experts they
look up to i.e. the foreign experts. Their standards
are foreign standards and when these standards differ
they find themselves unable to handle the problem.
Thus if they are used to British Standards and
Measurements, they seem unable to switch to the Metric
system even when the costs are lower and vice versa.
15. Malaysians must be more adventurous in devising
new applications and methods and testing them. After
all in the steel world practically every week new ways
of using steel are being invented and patented. It is
probable that we have thought of these things before
but were not confident enough to try and to test them
and to seek patent rights. As a result we have to pay
for the patents registered by others.
16. Research and development in the usage of steel
must be carried out in this country. The Government
will support such activities as it will be able to
contribute to our economy. There should be no lowering
of standards of course but surely this most versatile
metal will lend itself to newer uses all the time.
17. The Malaysian construction industry has made a lot
of progress in the use of structural steel. Where
before workers had to manually bend the rods and tie up
the formed rods with wires, today such work at the
worksites is no longer to be seen. Apparently the
steel rods are made into the necessary shapes elsewhere
and brought to the site ready for installation.
Considering that the requirement for the formed
structural steel rods is high because of intensity of
construction in Malaysia, and because we are short of
local labour and are dependent on foreign labour the
elimination of manual steel bending is very important
for Malaysia's economy. With robots and automation and
off-site factory production it is hoped that manual
labour can be reduced if not eliminated completely.
The people in the construction industry must adopt new
methods of handling construction steel or devise their
own methods of reducing manual labour through off-site
factory-produced steel elements in construction. It
would be neater and the work-site will not be so
cluttered and obstruct traffic and other activities.
18. Building and road construction has reached a high
degree of sophistication and competence in Malaysia.
It was only slightly more than twenty years ago that
foreign contractors had to be given the job of building
Malaysian highways. One example was the Federal
Highway through Petaling Jaya. Today Malaysian
highways with complex graded interchanges constructed
with different and varied methods are built completely
by Malaysian companies using Malaysian expertise.
Malaysia may claim to have the best and the most
extensive system of expressways in Southeast Asia all
built by Malaysians.
19. Numerous methods of building the graceful flyovers
can be seen during the construction of a single
expressway system especially in and around Kuala
Lumpur. Generally Malaysian highways cost less than
those in many other countries at the same developmental
level as Malaysia.
20. I am told by visitors to Malaysia how impressed
they are with Malaysian roads. And not a few of them
are keen to have Malaysian road builders build their
roads. Jamaica on the other side of the world has
requested me to identify a Malaysian contractor to
build a highway for them. I cannot identify a
contractor of course but interested parties can enquire
about this project.
21. I think it is about time that Malaysian
contractors venture abroad. There was a time when
Korean construction companies were building roads,
dams, bridges and buildings all over the world.
Korea's early growth was partly based on foreign
construction contracts. Malaysia, looking East, can
emulate Korea. Many countries in the south are keen to
have Malaysian constructors build their infrastructure.
As you know one of the most prestigious exhibition
centres in London is being built with Malaysian
participation and Malaysian fast track methods. There
is no reason why Malaysians cannot bid for construction
work even in the developed countries. We have the
capability and we can achieve world standards.
22. Malaysian businessmen are too comfortable at home
where everything is familiar and a sympathetic
Government is ever ready to help. Our businessmen must
learn to work under less congenial conditions. No
matter what form globalisation takes, it is important
that Malaysians learn to compete, both at home and
abroad. The Government will not be able to protect you
forever. So you have to learn to be on your own. And
venturing abroad would help you manage and compete
without any kind of protection or help even.
23. The benefit to the country of Malaysians
undertaking construction contracts in foreign countries
is enormous. Remittances back of earnings and profits
could help towards achieving Vision 2020. In the
petroleum industry our engineers and workers are
already active world wide, including countries like
Sudan, Chad and Algeria. There is no reason why
construction companies should not follow them. The
important thing apart from delivering quality work, is
to team up with locals and to be prepared to transfer
your skills and technology.
24. Malaysia is a relatively small country and its
market cannot support an integrated steel mill. If we
can keep our local costs low we will be in a position
to supply construction and other steel products to the
rest of the world. Our construction companies working
abroad will help to introduce Malaysian steel.
Eventually we can have a big enough demand to support a
full-scale steel making industry.
25. If I may I would like at this point to relate the
story of my life. As a boy in primary school I won a
Mickey Mouse book as prize for something or other. The
words in the book which struck me was the advice given
to Mickey. It read:-
"Go West young man
Was a good advice
So Mickey thought it would be nice
To try his luck both far and near
And be a plucky pioneer"
26. Well, these are not the words of a great sage or
philosopher but I was quite inspired by it. We should
always venture into the unknown and try new things.
Malaysians have an inferiority complex which they
cannot seem to get rid off. We still think we are
second rate. There are many firsts now in Malaysia.
The Petronas Twin Towers are the highest buildings in
the world. Very soon somebody will build a taller
building. But we will still have the tallest twin
towers in the world. And there are many other firsts.
We should be more confident of ourselves and be
prepared to do things that are different from what we
use to do, to be pioneers, plucky pioneers, to be less
orthodox.
27. If we had stuck to our old ways we would never
have progressed this far. We had broken away from our
past orthodoxy and pioneered new ways of dealing with
our development. And so the people in the construction
industry and the people who produce and who use
structural steel must pioneer new ways of using or
producing steel, of improving its qualities, enhancing
its strength and enlarging its application in
construction.
28. We are now in the computer and Information Age.
The skills that we need are no longer those of steel
bending and form works. Programming computers with the
necessary information has taken the place of brawn. We
and our workers must learn how to programme computers
to do our work. This require retraining.
29. Today we are too dependent on manual labour still.
As work expands productivity must expand along with it.
If it had not been for Ford's innovative mass
production methods we would not be able to serve the
needs of mass consumption. It is time that the steel
construction industry use the computers and information
technology extensively in order to cut down on labour
and costs. This is the direction that structural steel
in construction should take. I hope that the Malaysian
structural steel industry will be able to meet this
challenge of the Computer and Information Age.
30. With all the requirements for a steel construction
industry in place, I certainly do not foresee any
reason why steel could not be used much more in our
construction industry.
31. The Government is very concerned of the effects of
development on our environment. We must ensure that
whatever projects are carried out, they should not have
detrimental effects on the environment.
32. One particular environmental issue we face is that
constituents of concrete, which are cement, sand and
aggregate are extracted from hills and rivers. We
cannot afford to keep on depending on these materials.
We must also find alternative building materials.
33. If more steel is used the demand for sand,
aggregates and cement would be reduced. Our hills and
rivers would then be able to stay intact and our
environment saved. There will be a cost to this of
course but it would be worthwhile for the sake of a
better quality of life. Malaysians must learn to pay
more for the better things in life.
34. I have urged earlier for the parties involved in
the construction industry to be more open and receptive
in using new construction materials. The low demand for
steel is said to be the result of a lack of awareness
amongst architects, consultants and contractors.
35. The relevant parties involved in the structural
steel industry should not only promote but also educate
the end users on the good values of this material. I
must congratulate the MSSA and its council members for
their efforts to provide the relevant training and
education to the end-users.
36. The local universities must also play a proactive
role in ensuring that our graduates are well versed in
the areas related to structural steel. Related research
and development on steel should also be emphasised more
in the universities.
37. The role played by the MSSA is of the utmost
importance in terms of providing impetus for the growth
of our local steel construction industry. However, MSSA
alone cannot be relied upon to take the lead in
advocating the use of structural steel. All the players
involved in the industry must realise the need to have
an improved construction industry in our country.
38. The Government through its various agencies, from
the policymakers to its implementors, must also play an
important role in shaping the construction industry.
They must look at steel afresh. They should be willing
to change the way things are done in their various
capacities. All the relevant parties concerned, be it
in the Government or private sector must be willing to
undertake this change. We must take advantage of the
benefits offered by using more steel in our
construction industry.
39. I sincerely hope that this convention will be a
catalyst for all the relevant parties in the
construction industry to formulate strategies that will
see structural steel being used more prominently in our
country.
40. On this note, I have great pleasure in declaring
this convention officially open.
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