M’sia on track facing Industrial Revolution 4.0 challenges

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is on track keeping with constant changes required to face the challenges of the Industrial Revolution 4.0 (IR4.0), especially in the field of education, says Ireland Ambassador to Malaysia, Eamon Hickey.

Expressing confidence, he said although the challenging developments would further have implications on mankind in some ways, the IR4.0 would allow both Ireland and Malaysia to learn from each other in embracing the positive outcomes that the revolution could offer in the future.

“There is a lot of fear and angst around the place of what this IR4.0 would mean -- job losses and disruptions. But we (Ireland) point out that every previous step change in the industry of revolution, all the way from Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) education to technology, has not only resolved both issues but also seen the creation of more jobs in new areas and saw a major increase in wealth.

“In this regard, Malaysia (too) knows the issues and games. The technology sector here is very impressive and what is common to us is to keep up with the uses of technology and its usage in our daily life, and no doubt, Malaysia is perfectly capable of doing that,” he told Bernama in an exclusive interview at the embassy recently.

Hickey said with high eloquence shown by the new Malaysian government officials on ‘reviving’ the education sector, it was imperative the academic field needed to adapt to the current shift. Concurring with Irish Minister of Education and Skills, Richard Bruton’s statement last month during his visit to Malaysia, highlighting it was about time for Malaysia to engage a ‘benchmarking’ approach to create better education system, he said necessary changes were needed for implementation.