As Sarawak moves to a higher level of industrial development, through the development of SCORE, it will create a new pattern of employment that will be biased toward those with technical training, skills and expertise from next year onward, more so towards the year 2030.
It is projected that more than 1 millions jobs will be created and 52% of them will be semi-skilled technical workers upwards. The State's transformation from the medium income to high income economy will requires at least 32% of the workers to be semi-skilled ones in order to earn high incomes for the State and country.
It is projected that the development of SCORE area will create more than 1 million jobs, 55% of them in SCORE development area. The others will be in Betong, Sri Aman, Kuching and Samarahan in the South and Miri in the North. In other words, the development of SCORE will create new opportunities for all surrounding areas and not only the mid region of Sarawak. Kuching will also benefit from the spin off of the development of green energy. The hi-tech projects will go to Kuching while the tourism industry will be centred in Miri, which has set itself to specialize in the activities as a resort city.
The SCORE development area stretches from Tanjung Manis all the way to Samalaju, down south to Kapit and Baram. The development will create a lot of opportunities in terms of real property development, which may contribute to a big shift in the population towards the year 2020 and beyond.
The education sector will benefit the most in industrial development with the necessity to produce conservatively 60% of technical workers, about 25% as semi skilled workers and about 15%, managerial and professional workers. A clearer picture will emerge shortly to show the State's actual need for technical workers.
Generally, Sarawak will produce things not only for the country but for the world. It will import raw materials and process them as semi or fully manufactured goods. More job opportunities will be created in the process. More and more investors have indicated their interests to invest in Sarawak, which will be able to offer reasonably priced electricity and trainable manpower for the operations and maintenance of industries.
Hence, the development of SCORE emphasizes on technical and management or business education as it provides two channels in education to enable the new generations with management and technical skills to work in a more organised manner. For example, those who can operate machines, use computers and get access to the Internet should be able to do their jobs with greater efficiency and productivity.
Hence, the planning and implementation of SCORE take in consideration the necessity to train people to acquire skills and expertise in handling machines to do their jobs in plants or factories in Samalaju or any other places. In this respect, human development is being made an important component in the overall preparations to attract more investors to Sarawak, SCORE development area in particular.
Chief Minister, Pehin Sri Haji Abdul Taib Mahmud, in his recent speech during a gathering to mark the 10th Anniversary of Betong division, says the State has a program to produce hundreds of thousands of engineers, mechanical engineers, electrical engineers at degree and of diploma levels. A quarter million young people will be trained at vocational schools and polytechnics to become welders, wiremen and other technical workers. Hence, the new generation must focus their preparations on the kinds of jobs that will come up in future.
He says the setting up of Tabung Ekonomi Gagasan Anak Sarawak (TEGAS) is to explain to young people in rural areas not only Bumiputras but also non Bumiputras, to develop interests on technical education to become technical workers in future. The campaign will emphasise on Bumiputeras as they must know that technical education does not involve difficult academic studies like before.
He believes there will be more technical jobs coming up in future with industrial development that will bring about tremendous changes in employment patterns. For example, the setting up of industrial plants or factories in Samalaju will require people with technical training and skills.
He believes technical education can be done just like routine jobs provided the people have proper teachings and guidance in following them. For example, in the 70s when Penang started to develop electronic factories, most companies gave nine months to the people to be trained as technical or electronic workers. However, most of them could do the jobs only after three months of training.
Generally, young people must be trained to operate machines and use computers and other tools to do their jobs faster and more productive in the era of massive industrial development. In this regard, the people in rural areas should not be worried on ways to run them. The more qualified ones can be trained to become engineers while others can be trained to do something specific and earn high income.
It is anticipated that technical workers will be needed not only in Sarawak but the whole world, which will be in shortage of them in the next 20 years. By then the State will be competing with Australia, Singapore and probably other fast developing countries like Thailand. For this reason, young people must realise that technical education is to prepare them for jobs in plants or factories that can give them good income. Factories will be set based on the requirements and demands of the world market.
Pehin Sri Abdul Taib says the State's policy and programs for economic development have the objectives to minimise the socio-economic gap so that the towns can continue to develop but will not become places for the people who do not do anything and people who are jobless to gather together and hamper efforts in development with social problems.
The SCORE development program is divided into three main categories. The first, the development of heavy industries, the second to turn natural resources like forest, palm oil into a more integrated development. In the case of timber industry, it will go all the way to the production of quality timber, which necessitates the upgrading of factories all the way to mechanical pulp and paper.
The current policy is to convert 20% of forests areas of 6.4 million hectares on sustainable basis to double the outputs to 20 million cubic metres of wood. Thus, the State will be able to have a good spread of the mechanical pulp and paper industries in rural areas probably in Ulu Baram, Ulu Rejang and some parts of Betong division.
The experiments on planting of quick growing species of trees indicate that Sarawak can get at least five times more woods over a period of eight to 10 years. Such a development will put the development of forestry in a different light. Sarawak will be playing a different ball game that it was used to play in the old timber trade.
The development of the agricultural sector with the concept of Halal hub will use a ladder technology namely biotechnology to produce food that will be totally organic, and free from chemical and antibiotics. The food from Halal hub can command premium in the world market because they are being produced in accordance with the requirements of the Islamic law that emphasises on cleaner and more hygienic food production.
The process of production using bio –technology will be subject to more close supervision to ensure they will adhere strictly to Halal law and regulations. The development of Halal Industry will benefit not only Tanjung Manis but new areas like Tunoh highland, Betong and Sri Aman divisions.
The economic development program, if successfully carried out should be able to bring about a more balanced development between urban and rural areas, which are generally still under - developed. They lack infrastructure and still lose people with qualifications moving to towns. As a result they do not have the support in a situation, which lacks everything. The people, with some qualifications, have to migrate to towns or cities as they cannot find jobs that can give them good salaries in their own places.
Therefore, the people regardless of whether they are Malays, Ibans, Bidayuhs, Melanaus, Orang Ulu or any others, must endeavour to change their ways of doing things in order to get high incomes from what ever they do. In this respect, young people, who are still in schools, must ask how they can adjust to the new situation that produces more things with less effort by using brains and more tools or equipments.
Basically our children must be able to see employment opportunities that can give them high salaries through technical education. Therefore, parents and teachers and school going children must know that SCORE represents a new form of economy that differs greater from those previously being carried out.
They must prepare themselves for new jobs that will be able in high demands towards achieving the objective of vision 2030. It will not be a surprise that Sarawak will attain the high income economy earlier than other parts of Malaysia.
