Institution of Fire EngineersMalaysian Minister visits IFE Head Office
On 18 May 2006, the Institution of Fire Engineers had the pleasure of welcoming the Malaysian Minister of Housing and Local Government, YB Dato Seri Ong Ka Ting, to its Head Office in Moreton in Marsh, UK. The Minister, who became a Companion of the Institution [CIFireE] in October 2004, was accompanied by the Director General of the Fire and Rescue Department Malaysia [FRDM] YAS Dato Hamzah bin Abu Bakar, the FRDM Assistant Director General for Training and Human Resources Mr Khirudin bin Drahman. Mr Ong Boon See accompanied the Minister as his Political Secretary.
The visit was organised at the request of the FRDM by the Institution's Board Chairman Mr Dennis Davis and Mr Hao Giang Tay Honorary Secretary of the Institution's Malaysian Branch, both of whom were also present. The visit commenced with an overview of the Institution given by Ellen Jessett Chief Executive Officer, which was followed by a presentation and discussion regarding open learning and higher education for fire engineers led by Professor Georgy Makhiviladze and Mr Paul Critchley the University of Central Lancashire. After these discussions the Minister toured of the Fire Service College's world class Urban Search and Rescue Facility and later met Director Howard Passey of the Fire Protection Association.
From left to right: Mr Hao Giang Tay (Honorary Secretary of the Institution's Malaysian Branch), Mr Dennis Davis (Institution's Board Chairman), YB Dato Seri Ong Ka Ting (Malaysian Minister of Housing and Local Government) and YAS Dato Hamzah bin Abu Bakar (Director General of the Fire and Rescue Department Malaysia [FRDM]).
The visit culminated in the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between IFE and FRDM to expand technical development and the acceptance by FRDM of certificates acknowledging the award of Approved Training Centre and Approved Course Provider status to the Fire and Rescue Academy Malaysia (FRAM) in April 2006. The agreement formalised a significant relationship that has grown over many years, starting with the formation of the Malaysian Branch in 1997, between the IFE and FRDM, and which saw the staging of an inaugural International Branch meeting in Kuala Lumpur in October 2004.
The MoU is the latest strategic partnership developed with major international organisations in countries like the USA, Poland, Russia and the UK and underpins the Institution's objective to increase the global networking and influence of fire engineers. In a similar way the Institution has begun to find opportunities that will enable the wider use of open learning, which is now being used in higher education, so that the huge potential of this method of learning can be exploited to support individual development whilst retaining essential international quality assurance regarding standards of attainment. The Minister showed considerable interest in this approach to education questioning both the IFE and UCLAN and was pleased to hear that preliminary actions are already underway between FRAM and IFE.
On the second day of the visit the Director General and Assistant Director General were welcomed to London Fire Brigade by the Commissioner Ken Knight who discussed a number of current initiatives in which the service is at the forefront and this was followed by presentation related to the emergency planning post the 7/7 and a tour of the Brigades Scientific Section.