A path forward

Last month, I had the privilege to award 37 of Malaysia’s finest young talents with the 2018 Gamuda Scholarship. 

The Gamuda Scholarship, an initiative under Yayasan Gamuda, serves as a talent-building programme that sponsors deserving students to pursue their undergraduate studies.

It has long been a commitment of the company to invest heavily in the nation’s talent pool and to ensure that Gamuda as a group is aligned on all levels with the country’s strategy for future growth.

 As the nation undergoes massive economic, political and social change, the need for coming up with new business opportunities and innovative ways of providing engineering and construction solutions is all the more important.

We must not only evolve in our strategy and methods of execution, but adapt to the challenges in our way and form sustainable solutions that will add value to the company and the industry.

Inspiring the next generation of leaders

Since its inception in 1996, more than 340 scholarships valued at close to RM40 million have been granted — focusing on the academic achievements, leadership qualities, critical thinking, business acumen and communication proficiencies of our next generation.

One thing I value when meeting our new Gamuda scholars is their ambition and vision for contributing to the national cause — including their commitment to their local communities.

 This year, one scholarship holder in particular had very strong feelings about the need for sustainable construction solutions to improve the mobility, accessibility and livelihoods of the people in his home town of Sibu, Sarawak. I was very impressed.

Collectively, we see that all our scholarship holders have a great spirit for progression, transformation and equality within Malaysia. These are important qualities to have as the nation continues to evolve.

Building the workforce

Gamuda, having held an important role in the country’s growth over the last four decades through its significant infrastructure and township projects, is committed to providing more and more business and job opportunities to fellow Malaysians as we embark on this next journey of progression together.  

To achieve this, we need a ready pool of talent who have the skills, and more importantly, who can apply and adapt their skills in response to change and move up the value chain. 

This is where we see the true value of the Gamuda Scholarship.

Engineering-related programmes are still our main focus, but we have increased the coverage for non-engineering courses to further add value to the business.

We also emphasise diversity and inclusivity, so you will notice a good blend of ethnicities, gender and backgrounds in our latest batch of scholars.

With such vibrant and diverse talent at our disposal, and through our Gamuda Learning Centre where we provide all employees the necessary training, upskilling and motivation to adapt to various roles at the company, we believe Gamuda is well positioned to build a stronger, more sustainable workforce for the future.