Talents contribute to building Malaysia’s first MRT
ATYPICAL
day at work for most people involves a 9- to- 5 job at the office.
But for the young talents of MMC Gamuda ( a joint venture of Malaysia’s most decorated construction and engineering companies MMC Corporation Berhad and Gamuda Berhad), their daily routine revolves around building Malaysia’ s first Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) project – the KVMRT (Klang Valley Mass Rapid Transit) Sungai Buloh- Kajang Line MRT (Line 1).
The 51km MRT Line 1, which runs from Sungai Buloh through Kuala Lumpur before ending in Kajang, comprises both elevated and underground portions; the latter of which involves tunnelling more than 40metres deep into the heart of busy Kuala Lumpur city.
Various professionals ranging from architects and planners to safety managers and engineers were hired when the project commenced in 2011 with Phase One of MRT Line 1 from Sungai Buloh to Semantan operational on December 16, 2016. Phase Two running from Semantan Station to Kajang Station will be operational in July 2017.
Prior to the implementation of MRT in the country, foreign expertise were often called upon for any underground infrastructure projects. But this has all changed with MRT Line 1 where talented Malaysians play a pivotal role in Malaysia’s largest infrastructure project.
One of these bright young talents is none other than Arziah Mohd Ahsim, a fellow Sarawakian who works as a specialist instructor in the project.
“My job involves conducting fire safety training for all site employees working underground on MRT Line 1,” said the 30-year- old who hails from Mukah.
The training, she explained, is held once a week with a maximum of ten trainees per class and comprises two stages - the first involves flashover fire fighting where everything burns in a confined space, while the second stage involves a tunnel fire scenario.
Arziah added that the underground fire training uses actual fire.
Now, Arziah holds the distinction of being the only certified female flashover training instructor in Malaysia.
When the role was first offered to her, Arziah admitted that she did not feel confident that she would be able to handle the job but thanks to her supervisor’ s faith and encouragement, this all changed.
“I love my job and cannot think of being in any other industry because I feel empowered to be doing something so important for the MRT project.”
She also felt encouraged that managers and engineers on the MRT project paid more attention to housekeeping rules after she informed them that fires can be sparked by the tiniest and least expected of things.
While the construction industry is often typically stereotyped as a man’s world, the MRT project is seeing women like Arziah who are challenging the norm and making their mark in this industry as skilled and educated talents.
A Gamuda scholar, Noor Affida Raffika Mohd Nazari was deployed at the Maluri Station during the construction of MRT Line 1 for four years as a site engineer and has been serving as KLCC East underground station section head since themiddle of last year.
“I’ve always wanted to be an engineer since young and I joined MMC Gamuda upon completing my studies at Univ er sit i Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia in Batu Pahat, Johor,” she said.
In fact, she relishes the nature of the project, welcoming the challenges that came with it like interfacing with surrounding stakeholders in the vicinity of her stations. She also attributed her success in growing from a site engineer to a section head in less than five years to all the developmental and training programmes that she has received with MMC Gamuda
“I feel the opportunity to grow is there for all to see and I feel blessed that I have been able to develop my skill and talent with the company,” she expressed.
As Noor Affida and Arziah broke down barriers and overcame challenges in the industry, Ahmad Faizuddin Abu Bakar on the other hand, had to assure his family members who initially thought that his work on the MRT project involved the 3Ds (dangerous, dirty and difficult).
“When I joined MMC Gamuda as a graduate scholar four- and- ahalf years ago to work on the MRT project, some of my relatives thought I would be manually shovelling through the dirt underground,” recalled the 29-year- old from Besut, Terengganu who studied engineering at the prestigious Imperial College London.
On the contrary, Faizuddin’s job scope as a senior engineer is to ensure the station’s electrical services design and building process is carried out smoothly.
“As a fresh graduate on the job, I found it challenging in the first few years to review drawings on electrical design produced by consultants,” he said.
But as time went by, he honed his skills and the review process became easier.
“I am very proud of my role and often tell my friends and university mates that I am working for the biggest public transportation project in the country,” expressed Faizuddin, who became a keen advocate of the benefits of public transportation during his student days in London and hopes to see Malaysia’s public transport network emulate it one day.
As for Ruslan Mohamed, he is elated to be working on the MRT project for many reasons. One of his most cherished experiences was being given the opportunity to be sent to Schwanau, Germany to gain knowhow on the operations of the tunnel boring machines (TBM).
“Five of us were sent for one-month training in Germany and we were the inaugural batch of staff working on MRT Line 1 to be sent there.
“I am very thankful for the opportunity to gain valuable insight on TBMs from the Germans,” he reminisced.
As Section head (Mechanical and Electrical) for MRT Line 1, Ruslan’s role is a carry through fromthe design and technical team, where he handles operations aswell as coordinates with suppliers and contractors to ensure works are done within the set time frame and cost.
“The stations are also smart buildings where everything is remotely controlled through a communication system from a control centre,” he explained.
For instance, one does not have to go to a particular station to switch on the lights as it can be remotely done by the click of a button froma control centre. The 43-year- old said despite having 20 years’ work experience in the M&E sector, working on the MRT was the most defining moment of his career.
“This is because I got to learn a lot of new things especially in relation to tunnelling.”
He also pointed out that working underground was especially challenging in terms of space constraints and making sure there were no clashes. With handover of Phase Two expected over the next few weeks, Ruslan is currently involved in testing and commissioning works.
Asked if he would be involved in MRT Line 2 which is the Sungai Buloh-Serdang-Putrajaya Line that is scheduled for completion in 2022, the enthusiastic engineer replied with a resounding "Yes!"