(R) (Dr.) Haji Mohamad Yasmin bin Haji Umar - Energy Department ...

Opening Remarks by Yang Berhormat Pehin Datu Singamanteri Dato Seri
Setia Colonel (R) (Dr.) Haji Mohamad Yasmin bin Haji Umar,
the Minister of Energy at the Prime Minister’s Office,
On the Occasion of the Job Fair 2012.
BRIDEX, Sunday, 7 October 2012.
Bismilah Hirrahman Nir Rahim,
Assalamualaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh, and a Very Good Morning.
Yang Mulia Dato Paduka Haji Wahab bin Haji Juned and Yang Mulia Dato
Paduka Haji Ali bin Apong, Deputy Ministers at the Prime Minister’s Offices,
Permanent Secretaries and Deputy Permanent Secretaries,
Senior Officials from the Government of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-
Pertuan of Negara Brunei Darussalam,
Managing Directors and CEO’s of Companies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Before I continue, I would just like to say that at first I wanted to deliver this
speech in Malay, however in consideration of the many non-Malay speakers who
are with us here this morning, please allow me to proceed in English.
It is indeed a great pleasure to meet all of you here today. First and foremost, I
would like to thank you for finding the time despite your busy schedule to come
to this morning’s function. I would also like to express my most sincere
appreciation to those who are repeat participants in this latest Job Fair. For those
participating for the first time, welcome and I hope, as those who have
participated in the past, you will find it as very rewarding and a win-win
venture.
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1. It has been almost 10 months since we organized the very first Job Fair
here at BRIDEX, in December 2011. The objectives of the first Job Fair and the one
that we are organizing now are the same, that is to expose as much as possible the
job opportunities available out there in our local oil and gas industry. On this, we
are indebted to His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Negara Brunei
Darussalam, who through his advices and guidance encourages us to be more
proactive in terms of job creations for the citizens and permanent residents of
Brunei Darussalam. The first Job Fair marked the beginning of a major push of
such efforts by the Government of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of
Negara Brunei Darussalam through the Energy Department towards ensuring
more locals are employed by the industry. We wanted then to show and prove
that the industry has the ability to provide jobs for the locals, and our locals if
given the right chance can rise up to the challenge of filling up these jobs.
2. We also wanted to show that creating 50,000 jobs in the oil and gas
industry, out of which 40,000 jobs are for local professionals and employees by
2035 as envisaged in the draft Energy White Paper is not only a possibility but
also achievable. I am first to acknowledge that the task is not easy – there are so
many gates that must be unlocked including attitudes of both the potential
employers and the employees, managing and upgrading capabilities and
capacities and so on. Most of these also involve sensitive issues, yet if we were to
please everyone we would not get very far. Reality is, we need to create more jobs
for our locals, and do it fast. We cannot have an environment where our locals
feel that they are being by-passed for jobs, even in the non-skills and semi-skills.
We cannot have contracts signed in the oil and gas industry – some involving
tens and even hundred of millions, with little return to the nation in term of local
contents such as jobs and training opportunities.
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3. What have we achieved since then Last week on the side line of my
meetings with BSP’s JG1 to JG6, I mentioned to the press that by mid-September
2012, we have on our record from submissions received from the oil and gas
companies, a total of 1114 new recruitments of locals by the industry. After
further analyzing the latest reports, the number Alhamdulillah is now 1302!
Indeed, surpassing the target of 1000 for the whole of 2012 is not by any standard
a small achievement, bearing in mind that we still have two and a half months to
go before the end of the year. I am confident that we will again improve on this
number, Insya Allah.
4. Allow me to provide further breakdowns on the new recruitments. 53 are
Master degrees holders, 111 are first-degree holders, and another 107 with Higher
National Diplomas. The rest numbering 1031 are those with PMB, O-levels, A-
level, OND, technical certificates and so on. The numbers are as submitted to us
by 47 out of the 70 oil and gas companies that participated at the last Job Fair. I
understand we are having a little bit of difficulty for whatever the reasons, in
getting the inputs from the other 23 companies. I urge those concern to work with
us on this.
5. At the moment, we have 270 companies with links to our oil and gas
industry registered with the Energy Department of the Prime Minister’s Office.
These companies are required to submit certain information to us at a regular
basis including the numbers of locals being employed. These are very important
information that allows us to keep track the progress of LBD in the country. LBD
itself is one of our top agenda. For those participating or intending to participate
in tenders with the Brunei-Shell Joint Venture companies – allow me to remind
that compliance with the LBD’s Directives including those on submission of
information is a drop-dead criteria. If a company failed to show that it is fully in
compliance with the Directives, its submission would not be further processed.
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6. Achieving this target means a lot to all of us. It shows the industry is able
to absorb more locals; locals are either not as choosy as was first thought or if
they were, they are no longer so; and there is a positive shift on the views toward
locals as employees. It also means there is a very strong support from the players
within the industry themselves including most of you, who are here today.
7. Having achieved the target is one thing. Are these people being engaged in
what I termed as ‘real employment’ Real employment means real jobs, one that
enable the employee to provide at least for himself or herself, a reasonable quality
of life. We don’t want to see a person being employed for just 3 months and after
that he is back in the job market again. That is why I have taken a lot of my time
to visit the companies and to see for myself, the reality of the employment
situation in each and every one of the companies I visited. I pledged to myself
that I would visit more than 100 companies by the end of this year.
8. Through these visits, I am able to see for myself the employment status as
it is and in turn, provide opportunities for both employers and employees alike,
to tell me how things are at ground level. I am also encouraging my senior
officers including the Permanent Secretaries to do the same, to meet with you and
your employees. We need factual information and a feel of what is really going
on, in order to consider and prepare additional Local Business Development’s
initiatives, if and when required. I do not want to see beautiful facts and figures
being provided in glossy brochures by the companies on employment and other
local contents, when in reality these are far from being true.
9. Undeniably, there would be some who would claim that the number was
achieved by Energy Department, by imposing conditions that require those vying
for contracts with the Government-linked oil and gas companies to adhere to the
LBD Directives and to satisfy the guidelines on local employment. Indeed, this is
the reality and must be done as a wake-up call. However, these are not unfair
demands. Some of the companies are reaping benefits and substantial profits
from the activities of the local oil and gas operators, it is time for them to
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contribute to the local communities in return, by employing our local jobseekers.
To those of you who have helped us achieve the target, willingly or otherwise–
thank you for your efforts, may Allah Subbahana Wataala repay your good
deeds, by many folds. Amin.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
10. We cannot be too sure whether all these years, the industry had not been
absorbing locals at the number that we are talking about just now. So whether
our target for 2012 is indeed either low or high, this would remain an academic
question. But definitely, we have learned a lot from the past few months.
11. This year, BSP alone spent around B$2.3 billion as capital expenditure to
amongst others, execute Danau-Bubut, Champion-7 New Living Quarters (CP-7
NQ), Bulan-Bulan & Osprey fabrications and brownfield rejuvenations as part of
its major projects. For the financial year 2013, BSP will spend as its capital
expenditure around B$2.7 billion, on drilling new development and exploration
wells including near field exploration (NFE) and onshore, resulting an increase in
number of rigs, fabrications and offshore installations. That’s just BSP, we have
not included companies such as TOTAL, Brunei Methanol, PetroleumBRUNEI,
PETRONAS and so on.
12. I do hope that companies such as TOTAL, PETRONAS and BMC would
be more transparent on their projected expenditure and the key projects that
they would be carrying out. PetroleumBRUNEI as the current regulator for these
companies must obtain and report back to the Energy Department of the Prime
Minister’s Office on their LBD components. I am also sure our local contractors
and vendors would love to know about them, so they can plan well ahead and
have a chance to participate in the various projects.
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13. Taking all these expenditures in mind, I see a better opportunity for local
employment next year. So Ladies and Gentlemen, I am pleased to say that I am
looking at a higher target of 1,600 new local recruitments for 2013. Again, I am
confident that this target is achievable.
14. We have many examples of successes in developing our local manpower
resources. Brunei Gas Carriers Sendirian Berhad (BGC) is an excellent example
where Bruneians are able to demonstrate that they are up to the challenges of
working onboard sea-going vessels. Today BGC has over 270 local officers and
crews. All the ratings i.e. the junior crews are now locals. Just recently, we have
also locals achieving the ranks of Chief Officers/Chief Mate and Second
Engineers, which are just a one step away from reaching the rank of
Captain/Master and Chief Engineer respectively. Insya Allah, in the very near
future, we will see the first of our LNG vessels to be fully manned and captained
by Bruneians.
15. The young mariners of BGC fit very well to the description of the youths
that we as a nation want. His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan in his Titah
on the occassion of the National Youth Day on 2 August 2010, said
“This strong spirit will aspire them to more diligent, prepare to face the
weather and be durable. This is the youth that we and our nation dreams of.
Youth such as this, will not see difficulties as hinderance toward successes, but
instead these will make them strive harder and be more competitive.”
16. Let me at this juncture, quote another extract of His Majesty the Sultan and
Yang Di-Pertuan of Negara Brunei Darussalam’s Titah during Hari Raya
Gathering organised by Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Foundation on Tuesday, 28
August 2012.
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“In the 10th National Development Plan 2012-2017, through the Economic
Strategy, we always endeavour to develop economic sustainability, one that is
capable of creating quality job opportunities for citizens and locals in the
public and private sectors.”
The Titah says it all. Among the true measures of a sustainable economic
development is its ability to provide quality jobs for our citizens and locals, be it
in the public or private sectors. The responsibility to create this sustainable
economic development falls on all of us, the Government, the private sectors, the
citizens and locals alike.
17. Lets me now also share with some of the things the Government is doing
in order to increase employment of locals by the oil and gas industry.
18. First, our top priority is to match the qualifications and skills of our local
jobseekers with that of the industry’s requirement. By consent of His Majesty the
Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Negara Brunei Darussalam, we have established a
high-level Steering Committee to help steer works on establishing a framework to
be known as the Energy Industry Competency Framework (EICF) by end of this
year. The Framework will act as a training to help locals achieved the competency
standards as required by the industry. Yes, we are in a hurry to do this as the
number of job seekers is increasing by the year. We are not just referring to
degree or HND holders, but also ‘O-levels holders’ and sadly even those who did
not even finish their O-Levels.
19. Secondly, we have held two gatherings with Young Unemployed Energy
Graduates and HND holders from the various fields. During these gatherings we
lent a listening and sympathetic ear to their predicaments whilst at the same time,
offering them advices on how to sell themselves to prospective employees.
During the first of these gathering, around 70 graduates were able to secure
apprenticeships with the main oil and gas companies. For the second, we added
more potential employers to the equation and Alhamdulillah, in total more than
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161 candidates were able to obtain apprenticeship places. Out of these, 22 have
been taken in as employees. To the apprentices who managed to secure
employments in such a short time and to the companies, congratulations and well
done. However, we are not totally satisfied with our achievement, we want to do
more in terms of number and the quality of the scheme. We are reviewing the
terms and conditions of this apprenticeship programme, it is important that each
of the apprentice, upon finishing the programme is turned into a better candidate
for the employment market.
20. I mentioned earlier about our Young Unemployed Energy Graduates, I am
pleased to note that some of them are with us here today working as volunteers.
They are here offering their free services to help us organize and manage the
event. Surely, ladies and gentlemen, this is a very good indicator of their quality
as potential employees of your company.
21. Secondly, we are exposing our students to the oil and gas industry
through roadshows in all the four districts. Our target audiences are those who
are still studying at the secondary and the primary levels. We want to instill
interests upon them as early as possible on our nation’s oil and gas industry, and
to help them decide the career paths that they would like to adopt. For those who
are at secondary schools, the roadshows allow them to find out the O-levels’ and
A-Levels’ subjects that are needed in order for them to secure places in the
disciplines they are interested in at universities or technical training schools.
22. Providing guidance and instilling interests on the appropriate subjects to
be taken if a student were to pursue a certain career at a very early stage is very
important. This strategy is very much in line with the Titah of His Majesty the
Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Negara Brunei Darussalam in his Titah during the
22 nd Teachers’ Day Celebration held on 24 th September 2012:
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“Touching on the development of education, specifically at the primary and
secondary levels, based upon my own observation and information obtained
during visits to Government schools, the students’ ability to master
Mathematics and Languages, although showing improvement, is still in need
of further enhancement. This is important as mastering the basics is the strong
foundation required to pursue the said subjects at the secondary and advance
levels.”
23. Thirdly, as I mentioned earlier we have also visited some of you to have a
closer look at your businesses, and to know for example the challenges that you
face in your businesses. We also want to see how far have you all gone in terms of
employing locals and to know the various related issues. These are important –
you are the employers and you deserved to be heard as well. However in return,
we also asked to be listened. It is in everyone’s interest that our local companies
continue to be successful as successful companies also mean stable employers.
24. Fourthly, we are planning to set up National Oil and Gas Training Centres
through Public-Private Partnership, to provide tailor-made courses for those
interested to join the oil and gas industry. These training centres would
complement existing institutions of higher education and technical schools and
allow us to have more intakes each year. At the same time, they would also
provide us with more choices of courses and modules, training durations, better
training facilities and so on.
25. These training centres could be set up in the various districts, each offering
specialization in certain skills. We may have one in Kuala Belait specialising in
welding and scaffolding, another in Seria on drilling skills, perhaps in Tutong for
industrial and offshore painting, whilst others in Bandar Seri Begawan and
Bangar offering something else.
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26. The setting up of these national training centres will also be in line with
the Titah of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Negara Brunei
Darussalam also made during the 22 nd Teachers’ Day Celebration held on 24 th
September 2012:-
“I was made to understand that a study is being carried out on technical
education. I hope this study will be looked at thoroughly for implementation.
A strategic plan should also be developed for the purpose of achieving the
goals of the technical education. This includes, if necessary, direct involvement
by the industry and operators, to enable them to share their experience and
expertise.”
27. Fifthly, studies have already been implemented to identify areas that need
to be improved so that our existing educational and training institutions will be
able to produce graduates who are marketable and easily absorbed by the
different sectors. The Energy Department is working closely with the Ministry of
Education and with the relevant Government agencies in order to implement
measures that will help us to achieve these improvements. These measures may
include bringing experts from the industry to conduct lectures and share
experiences, and seconding the teachers or lecturers to the industry in order to
gain real industry-based experiences.
Ladies and gentlemen,
27. Please allow me to address those who are still seeking for jobs – please,
come and visit this Job Fair. The oil and gas industry offers various job
opportunities in many disciplines - engineering, sciences, finance, laws, arts,
media, information technologies, just to name a few. I believe there are still a few
out there who are more inclined to seek employment with the Government.
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28. What we are doing here today takes a lot of effort in terms of time,
manpower and costs by all parties concerned. So go around and mingle with the
representatives. Find out what are the opportunities out there for you and what
you need to do in order to grab them. Attend the CV writing sessions, learn how
to sell yourself, you’ll be surprise to know you have more attractive attributes
than you currently thought.
29. The industry often offers different challenges, better career development
prospects and better rewards. If you feel you are up to the challenges, full of ideas
and is innovative, the oil and gas industry is therefore the right choice for you to
be in.
30. For those who are already being employed by the industry, I urge you to
give your best to help your employers to continue to grow in strength. In any job,
be it with the Government or the private sector, dedication is a must. Do not put
yourself in a situation that involves breach of trusts and corruption, as these will
jeopardize not only your jobs but also your reputations. And worst still these
practices do not only affect the company you are working for but also the whole
industry and the nation as a whole.
31. At the same time, you must always adhere to the commands and
prohibitions of Allah Subbahana Wataala. And don’t forget to pray for your
parents’ continuous good health and well-being, and in turn to seek their doa for
you for your good health and keberkatan in your undertakings. Insya Allah, as I
never gets bored in reminding – our parents’ doa is makbul as it is readily heard
and fulfilled by Allah Subbahana Wataala.
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32. In conclusion, please allow me to share with you His Majesty the Sultan
and Yang Di-Pertuan of Negara Brunei Darussalam’s Titah yesterday during the
National Youth Day, 2012. Touching on the theme “Generasi Belia Syumul”, His
Majesty in his Titah advised that developing a youth who is ‘syumul’ or
‘complete’ requires more than just mere words, ambitions and calls. The most
important thing is to equip them with the required knowledge, including
religion. It is knowledge said His Majesty that determines the capability and
status of a person both in front of Allah or in front of his fellow men.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Thank you again for finding the time to be here this morning. Wabillahhi taufik
walhidayah wassalamualaikum wbt.
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