IEM YES National Summit 2012

On 5th – 8th July, the annual National Summit was organized at Johor Bahru and led by Southern Branch chairman, Engr. Tan Ee Fan. It was attended by all branches’ representatives from all over Malaysia. They are from Penang, Perak, KL, Sarawak, Miri and Sabah branches. About 10 committees from IEM YES KL took part in this happening event. This year’s National Summit is different than even as it is jointly organized together with student’s National Summit. Therefore the number of participants of the event was about 100.

On 5th July, we arrived and checked in at one of the hotels at Sutera Utama, Johor at about 11pm after a long driving journey. The event began on next day with a breakfast at Taman Tun Aminah at a special location, Police Station. After the breakfast, we boarded bus to UTM for interbranch meeting.

The representatives in the meeting room concentrating on the agenda

The meeting started with an opening speech by Engr. Tan Ee Fan, chairman of Southern Branch who warmly welcomed the presence of all branches despite busy workload. Then it was followed by a speech by KL branch chairman, Engr. Mah Way Sheng. After that, every branch presented their activities of the year which took about 5min each. Discussion on ways to improvise this event started after the presentation. One of the highlights is to have a National Summit fund contributed by every branch to the organizing branch of the year to ease the financial burden. This idea was agreed by all and will be implemented after further discussion in KL.

Student representatives from all over Malaysia had meeting at the next room concurrently

Engr. Mah Way Sheng, Chairman of IEM YES KL presented on KL branch’s past activities 

After the long hours of meeting, we were invited by the organizing committees to take a group photo and then followed by a lunch.

Group photo of all branches’ representatives attended National Summit

The day was not ended but continued with a visit to Iskandar Regional Development Authority (IRDA), Danga Bay where we got a chance to explore various projects headed by Iskandar Malaysia. We were briefed by the person in charge of the role of IRDA. It was presented in an interesting and interactive method. We were then proceeded to visit the centre with lots of interactive games which helps to elaborate the developments. After that we headed to Puteri Harbour and followed by dinner at Damai Seafood Village. We were glad to dine together with the president of Southern Branch and received appreciation awards.

A group photo at Puteri Harbour

A picture at IRDA after listening to the introduction by the person in charge

A speech dedicated by the president of Southern Branch

After the fruitful first day event, next day we had a tour at Tanjung Piai National Park. Its unique geographical position at the southern tip of mainland Asia, at 1° 16.00’ North and 103° 30.46’ East coordinates, is the reason the park is proudly referred to as the Southernmost Tip of Mainland Asia.

A giant statue to behold upon entering the park

The national park consists of coastal mangroves and intertidal mudflats. Almost 526 hectares of land here is mangrove while the rest is inter- tidal mudflats. There are also other species of monkeys here such as the Dusky leaf monkey, shy and elusive to see. There are however sea gulls roaming the skies above the park, and other migratory birds. There were label for every species in the park and inspirational quoted along the walk way. When walking towards the end, we can enjoy the astounding view of the busy Straits of Malacca.

A group photo at the wooden walkway

Another group photo at the signature globe at Tanjung Piai National Park

After the trip then we proceeded to next destination, Pulau Kukup which is about an hour journey. Pulau Kukup is a mangrove island located at about 1 km offshore from the 150 years old finishing village. We boarded a finishing boat and an uncle briefed us the history of the finishing village and showed us his collection of fishes. It took about 2 hours length of trip. At night, the organizing committees had arranged a BBQ for all at Sutera Utama. Unfortunately there was a drizzling, so we had to move to shop nearby for a shed. However, we still enjoyed the food and chit chats with each other.

BBQ arranged by organizing committees

Finally on 8th July, it was time to bid farewell. After breakfast together, we had group photo and exchanged contacts with each other. There were souvenirs given by organizing committees as well. Of all we appreciated the great effort by Southern Branch’s chairman and organizing committees. It was a very well-planned event. We will see you again in KL for National Summit 2013!

 Prepared by Engr. Mei Wong