11 JU

NE

2015

ISSU

E 1

VISANITY

LIVING A LAVISH LIFESTYLE

IINTERVIEW WITH

MR JEFFREY

PROFESSION

CIVIL ENGINEERING

SAFETY OUR CONCERNOUR PRIORITY

THE CREW

YAP CHOE HOONGWONG CHO MUN

ERIC TEO CHIANG LOONGTHERESA THIA AI MIN

TAN KE WEH

7

BIOGRAPHY

- DIRECTOR OF QUALITY DESIGN BUILD (QDB VENTURES SDN BHD),

MIEM P. ENG, MBA (AUS), B. ENG (HONS) UK- QUANTITY SURVEYOR- AGE : 43- GENDER : MALE

IR JEFFREY C. P. KWAN

IR JEFFREY C.P. KWAN

Key skills for civil engineers (Advice)

• commercially aware and capable of working well within a team environment.

• sound mathematical and technical skills including physics

• ability to think methodically, to design, plan and manage projects

• ability to maintain an overview of entire projects while continuing to attend to detailed technicalities

• excellent verbal and written communication skills

• negotiating, supervisory and leadership skills combined with the ability to delegate

= INSIGHTCIVIL

ENGINEER

Civil Engineers plan, design and oversee construction and maintenance of building structures and facilitates

Civil engineers can either be consulting engineers who advise on projects and design them, or contracting engineers who turn their plans into reality and maintain the structures once they are built.

Road, railway, airport, bridge, harbour, dam, irrigation project, power plant, water, sewerage system, high rise building/skyscraper

JOB SCOPE:

STRUCTURES WITHIN JOB

SCOPE:

ARE YOU WONDERING? WHAT DOES A CIVIL ENGINEER DO?

PROFESSI

ON

CIVIL

ENGINEER

What other professionals do you usually cooperate with?

We deal with architects, quantity surveyor, mechanical engineer and structural engineer.

What are the differences in calculation between a Quantity Surveyor and a Civil Engineer?

Two are equally towards calculations. The difference is that quantity surveyor is more towards cost calculations, nothing to do with the design part while civil engineering is more towards design calculations based on scientific theories.

Which profession stands out the most?

We are a developing country. All the professions are in high demand. The level of competition is equal for all professions in the construction industry.

Do you work overtime often?

Working as a civil engineer you may be required to work away from home for periods of time. Frequent visits to sites may also be necessary, especially for new graduates. Travel abroad may be possible with a large consultancy company.

While regular office hours are the norm, you may have to work for long days and some weekends close to project deadlines. Overnight and weekend stay may be

required for site inspection. Site engineers and managers can be on call 24 hours a day.

Do you separate from family often due to overtime?

Basically we have to manage our time but for me, family is more important. What we focus is efficiency, just do everything in time. I seldom encourage my staffs to

work overtime, unless if there is some really big project with due date nearby. This is because I understand that my staffs have their own lives.

Q&A

7

Q&AWhat's the difference between civil engineer and consultant engineer?

It's a very broad field, civil engineer can actually consist of geotechnical engineering which deal with drainage and infrastructure, for the structural engineers, they deal with other issues. As an consultant engineer, civil engineer and consultant engineer are equally important. So for a building project, civil engineer is more important, the contribution is much more. If we are talking about civil engineers as a contractor, I can say that in a consultant industry, as a contractor, the structural part of the whole building is contributed as much as 70%. As a contractor you actually control the rest of the sub-construction of the plumber , the electrical engineering, the mechanical engineering and so on. You are the head of the construction industry. You control the efficiency of the project flow.

How long do you normally stay in site and office?

It is not fixed. We have both side, office and site, site about 60 percent and office 40 %

What's the issue you commonly face in job, site or any working place?

The common issue is we have to put up a building from a drawing. There are architectural drawing and engineering drawing. If you look as an architect you would not know the structural drawing. So we have to do double checks for both drawings. We have to make sure the product is delivered on time. These are the few important issues. And one of the very important issues is cost control. You see, as a company you have to make sure that it runs efficiently and productively. You have to control the cost. The first thing is the right thing. Try not to have mistakes, but it is impossible to have no mistakes.

1997 GRADUATEDINTI UNIVERSITY

1998 WORKING LIFE COMMENCED

CONSULTANT CIVIL ENGINEER

TIMELINE (YEAR)

2002COMPANY ESTABLISHEDMAIN CONTRACTOR & DIRECTOR IN QDB

2015 INTERVIEWBY VISANITY MAGAZINE!

18TOTAL YEARS

Quo hoc melius illico sciens

TENUS CAPAX PATET MOTUM DIGNA

WORK ACTIVITIES

Civil engineers undertake technical and feasibility studies including site investigation.

They use a range of computer packages for developing detailed designs.

They undertake a lot of complex and repetitive calculations.

Besides that, they liaise with clients and a variety of professionals including architects and sub-contractors when carrying out a project.

They compile job specifications and supervise tendering procedures.

CIVIL ENGINEER

They also resolve design and development problems, other than managing project resources.

They hold a big responsibility in making sure the project complies with legal requirements.

They also schedule material, equipment purchases and deliveries.

More things to consider, they assess the sustainability and environmental impact of projects.

Also, they ensure that their projects would run smoothly and structures are completed within budget and on time, though in a smaller scale compared to Quantity Surveyor.

PROJECTS

Basically we usually focus on individual bungalows and shop lot offices. We built 60 units of shop lots in Sungai Long.

We don’t focus projects as we’re more to building houses and shop lots to work towards the direction of becoming a developer and to be on the safe side, as in not worrying about the big sum of modal investment. As for the other project, we are planning to build 36 units of bungalows and semi-D in Pandan Indah, Ampang.

My role in these 2 projects are mainly supervising my employers and thoroughly inspecting the progress.

WHY DID YOU CHOOSE CIVIL ENGINEER IN THE FIRST PLACE?

BEFORE GOING INTO TO CHOOSING WHICH FIELD I WISH TO STUDY, I DID A RESEARCH IN SUCH WHETHER WHICH FIELD SUITS ME. MY STRENGTH IS ON MATHEMATIC AND SCIENCE STREAM. MY PREFERENCES WERE ON ENGINEERING SUBJECTS, AS REFERRED TO STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING, MECHANICAL ENGINEERING, CHEMICAL ENGINEERING AND CIVIL ENGINEERING. ONE OF THE REASONS I CHOSE CIVIL ENGINEERING IS BECAUSE I LOVE MATHS.

HOW LONG HAS THIS COMPANY BEEN ESTABLISHED?

THIS COMPANY WAS SET UP IN 2002, UNTIL NOW 2015 IT HAS BEEN 13 YEARS.

HOW DID YOU SET UP THIS COMPANY?

I SET UP THIS COMPANY AFTER I’VE ACCUMULATED 5 YEARS EXPERIENCE AS A CONSULTANT WHEN THE OPPORTUNITY AROSE.

PERSONAL LIFE & INTERVIEW

WHAT ISSUE DO YOU FACE WHEN YOU’RE OVERSEAS?

MALAYSIANS HAVE DIFFERENT EDUCATION SYSTEM AND CULTURE FROM OVERSEAS. WE ARE CULTURALLY SPOON FED IN MALAYSIA WHILE IN OVERSEAS, YOU HAVE TO BE INDEPENDENT AND STAND ON YOUR FEET. MY FIRST YEAR WAS IN INTI COLLEGE AND SECOND YEAR STRAIGHT TO THE UNITED KINGDOM. SO IN THE OVERSEAS EDUCATION SYSTEM WE HAVE TO SEARCH EVERYTHING OURSELVES, DO EVERYTHING OURSELVES. I WAS NOT EASILY ADAPTED TO THE SITUATION AT FIRST. BUT AFTER SOMETIMES OF EFFORT YOU PUT IN, THE SITUATION WILL SLOWLY CHANGE.

WHAT PROBLEM YOU FACED WHEN STARTING UP A COMPANY?

SO FIRST YOU HAVE TO GET A JOB AND GET EXPERIENCE. FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT IS VERY IMPORTANT AND ALSO EXPERIENCE ARE REQUIRED TO SET UP A COMPANY. I SOLD OFF MY HOUSE TO GET FINANCIAL SUPPORT TO SET UP MY COMPANY. SO ALL THE WAY I HAVE FACED A LOT OF TROUBLES AND PROBLEMS BUT I HAD TO ENCOUNTER IT TO BE SUCCESSFUL IN THE FUTURE.

ANY SELF MOTIVATION TIPS?

SO FIRST, I DID GET A MBA AND I LEARNED A LOT FROM IT AND ITS A BENEFIT TO THE CAREER. SURVIVING IN THE REALITY WORLD AND MONEY IS MY MOTIVATION.