Today Saturday, March 19, 2016, I attended a Half-Day Workshop
on IEM Bulletin Publication ("JURUTERA") from 9.00am till 12.00pm at Crystal Crown Hotel,
Petaling Jaya.
This event was organized by the Standing Committee on
Information & Publication (InfoPub) of the Institution of Engineers,
Malaysia (IEM), of which I am the Secretary (a post continuously held by me since 2007),
and championed by the Bulletin Editor, Ir. Mohd Khir Muhammad, who is also the
InfoPub's Vice Chairman for the current session 2015/2016.
I left home at 8.00am and arrived at Crystal
Crown Hotel within half an hour due to smooth traffic condition on a Saturday morning. The
journey would normally take at least 1 ½ hours during normal working days as my
office is nearby the hotel. Nobody was present yet
at 8.30am when I entered the venue at Crystal Hall 2 on Level 4.
The Workshop started punctually at 9.00am with a briefing by
Ir. Mohd. Khir. He identified the major
issues on IEM’s monthly bulletin “JURUTERA” being the publication/delivery
deadlines and quality of the published articles and contents.
The Bulletin Editor presented his views on the basic issues
with the bulletin publication, background on possible causes and the objectives
and strategy of this brainstorming session.
Participants were then split into two groups for separate discussions in the same hall: (1) Group 1 (comprising
Editorial Board members, invited members and the representative from the publisher Dimension) on the review of editorial policy, quality and content improvement;
and (2) Group 2 (comprising IEM Secretariat staff from InfoPub and all
Technical Divisions) on review of workflow process and improvement of work
coordination.
Summary and action plan arising from the discussions was
then presented by a representative from each group to the floor for deliberation and adoption.
After the workshop ended at 12.00pm, we adjourned to the
Coffee House at the Ground Floor for buffet lunch till 1.00pm.
In conclusion, it was a successful brainstorming session and the
dynamic leadership of the Bulletin Editor Ir. Mohd Khir must be commended!
The participants of the workshop were as follows:
From the Editorial Board & InfoPub Standing Committee:
- Ir. Mohd Khir Muhammad
- Ir. Lau Tai Onn
- Ir. CMM Aboobucker
- Engr. Dr. Wang Hong Kok
- Ir. Tejinder Singh
- Engr. Abdul Fattah Mohd.Yatim
Invited Member:
- Engr. Michelle Lau
- Engr. Izni Zahidi
From IEM Secretariat:
- Ms. Janet Lim
- Pn. Nurul Aida
- Pn. Shafiqah
- Ms. Roseline
- Pn. Zainun
- Others
From Dimension Publishing Sdn Bhd
- Ms. Shirley Tham
The following are some snapshots taken during the Workshop
 |
| Pic taken at 8.30am as nobody was present yet and I was the earliest bird. |
 |
| Participants on my right hand side |
 |
| Participants on my left hand side |
 |
| Pic from right: Ir, Mohd Khir (chairman of the Workshop), Ir. Aboobucker (veteran IEM member), Engr. Dr. Wang Hong Kok (senior member but newcomer to this board), Engr. Fattah and Engr. Michelle Lau |
 |
| Ir. Aboobucker presenting the summary of Group 1 discussion |
 |
| Another glimpse of the proceeding of the Workshop (Courtesy of Dr. Wang) |
 |
| A group photo of the Workshop participants. Pic. front row from left: Engr. Fattah, Engr. Dr. Wang, the blogger, Ir. Mohd. Khir, Ir. Aboobucker, Ms. Shirley Tham, Ir. Tejinder (Courtesy of Ms. Janet Lim) |