YES Leader's Note: Why Your Voice Matters

Early morning of the day, as usual, I was checking my mail box to begin my work day. Someone send me an email to share an article posted by markcwl on Mar 1, 2011 in the website for the Young Pharmacist Chapter of the Malaysian Pharmaceutical Society.

After reading the article, I found a sense of identity and that inspired me to write an essay on the same title.

A quick summary on the article written by markcwl, the writer highlighted the norm of the pharmacists declining to attend the annual general meeting (AGM) of the Malaysian Pharmaceutical Society (MPS). And the writer brought up a good point on the needs of young pharmacists across the nation to join the MPS so that the society will be the largest group within and without the MPS hence lead to a voice within the society to ensure the issues and concerns regards to the profession are not ignored or trivialized.

A similar norm happened in the IEM G&S Young Engineer Section (IEM G&S YES). No doubt that the YES members contribute to half of the membership in the institution, however, a scenario of graduate and student member flooding the YES AGM hardly happened. However, we draw comfort from the fact that a group of volunteering engineers is devoting their time and energy in YES as committees to the benefits of the members.

The members of YES are basically two groups of people which are very well demarcated in the YES name, Graduate and Student. Obviously, these two groups of members demand for different needs and seek for different benefits from IEM. On the other hand, the existences of the committees and volunteers are always to serve and to deliver the benefits. However, the true question is the effectiveness of the committees to deliver the institution function and benefits to its member.

The committees might realised the Student and Graduate member demand different needs. For example, Student member could be further divide into first year and second year student, third year and final year student, where each of this group require assistance in student activities, internship placement and job placement respectively.

Same goes to Graduate members, the nature of engineering profession has branched out into lots of discipline. Members in different discipline and age would demand different benefits. As the committees and volunteers are not consisting of all groups of people, it is difficult for the YES to implement the learned society function within the wide branches of engineering profession. This information on what the members need did not reach to the committees and therefore, reduce the effectiveness of YES.

Therefore, the voices of the members are very important. It helps the committee to identify the needs of the members within a wide group of member segment. The voice of the YES members helps YES to move towards a more effective direction. In the committees point of view, YES would need you to be part of us by contribute your voice to us. To let us know our bad and good, so that the YES committees can improve the bad one to a better one, and remain the good and works toward a direction that more favorable to the members.

By
Engr. Lee Cheng Pay
Graduate Affairs Director
IEM G&S YES