Powering A Brighter Future

People are the very heart and soul of the company, as behind every successful business is a team of strong, dedicated and talented employees. At Gamuda, we understand the importance of how a good education can help push the boundaries and strive for excellence. Hence, through Yayasan Gamuda, the Group’s charitable arm, we have enabled young individuals the best hope of creating a better future with Gamuda Scholarship.

Initiated in 1996, Gamuda Scholarship has since invested in the futures of close to 500 young, bright minds, most of whom have financial constraints with opportunities to pursue their dreams of higher education locally and internationally.

Upon completing their education, scholars are offered a place within the Group or its subsidiaries. Gamuda’s scholarship programme promises successful applicants a life-changing journey as scholars are provided with a holistic platform filled with learning, training programmes and mentorships, such as Scholar’s Engagement and Development Programme (SEDP).

SEDP is a platform that provides opportunities for our scholars to develop themselves during their years of study in the universities, even before joining the workforce. Structured trainings and networking sessions are developed for Gamuda scholars which prepped them to journey the working world where they are expected to hone multiple skill sets, including interpersonal skills, leadership and management, to name a few.

Beyond the run-of-the-mill financial aid and training programmes, we believe in giving our scholars equal opportunities to pursue their passion for a better career progression through our Diversity and Inclusion Policy. With zero tolerance towards biasness, all scholars are valued on equal footing regardless of age, gender or race. Every employee’s growth in the company is purely based on meritorious performance.

Equal Opportunities and Participation at the Workplace

A perfect example of how Gamuda scholars are a force to be reckoned with is none other than Gamuda’s very own Transport Planning Manager, Nurul Iman Rahim. A recipient of the Gamuda Scholarship in 2012, she has come a long way since her first step into this male-dominant industry. Upon graduating, the 32-year-old joined the company as a Traffic Engineer under Gamuda Engineering before being promoted to Senior Traffic Engineer in 2016. She then moved up to become Assistant Manager in Transport Planning before becoming the Transport Planning Manager, her current role.

Looking back on her journey, Nurul Iman recalled how she never felt deterred applying for the Gamuda Scholarship due to her passion for engineering.

“When I applied and got selected, I did not see any gender biasness back then. In fact, I noticed that a lot of my peers were actually females. I also liked how Gamuda is very established as a company and filled with diversity, which is good. The opportunity to someday be able to be part of the Group was really appealing to me too back when I applied,” she said.

She further advised other females out there to chase their passion wholeheartedly. Do not back down or feel intimidated when you feel challenged. “If you have the drive to do what you love then you will be fine. Also being part of a gender-equal company is a bonus as I have grown to become more confident and I am able to lead my team. The support from the company also helped my self-esteem especially when dealing with authorities like government officials. Looking at my career growth in Gamuda, it just shows that Gamuda truly values what I bring to the company and appreciates me for who I am regardless of my gender,” she added.

Nurul Iman further applauded the Group’s efforts that puts its employees first. “Gamuda tries to ensure everyone gets involved in projects and that no one gets left behind. By getting involved in projects, we can learn so much and gain a ton of experiences. It is here that employees can shine and showcase their skill or talent by working on projects you feel most confident working in,” she said.

Excelling in Digital and Innovation

Meanwhile, fellow scholar John Lim Ji Xiong went from being a young engineer to the Head of Gamuda Excellence Transformation (GET) and recently, appointed as the Executive Director for Gamuda Engineering and Gamuda Land. Through GET, he oversees the consolidation and creation of Gamuda’s digital teams and ecosystems, technology investments, corporate innovation programs as well as developing digital talent in the organisation.
With his recent appointment as the Executive Director, Lim will oversee the rollout of digital strategies to complement the businesses and talent developments for both Gamuda Engineering and Gamuda Land.

“I would describe myself as an innovation evangelist who is constantly trying to get people to think differently about their work and upskill by applying our new technological innovations to their roles,” he said.

Lim believes that education and knowledge acquisition is not a destination but a journey. Living up to his beliefs, he is constantly on a journey of self-invention by taking every opportunity to learn something new. In his free time outside work, Lim would enroll in courses that piqued his interest in a bid to grow further in his career.

Lim, who also has a Masters in Mechanical Engineering pursued his education in Bristol. When he got back, he hit the ground running, starting as a site engineer for the MRT underground project. His experience in tunnelling allowed him to further harness his passion on digitalisation, to invent and create technological solutions for the betterment of all. “I like coding and doing related stuff to that. I was fortunate to be at the right place and the right time to gain certain opportunities and make the best of it. I found my path when I worked on automating the tedious process of manually writing in crane lifting plans,” he said.

He is referring to the treasured opportunity for being a part of building the Autonomous Tunnel Boring Machine (A-TBM). The first-of-its-kind A-TBM developed in 2019, an innovative technological breakthrough that has won numerous international awards, propelling Gamuda to the forefront of the global tunnelling fraternity.

In addition, he also founded a Business Innovation Programme and Innovation Fund with hopes to catalyse innovation at Gamuda, a department that he now leads. This digital workforce is truly the future of tomorrow and it is the company’s path towards a breakthrough of more technological innovations in future.

“I believe that I can be where I am right now because the management in Gamuda is always very forward thinking. Digital and tech are always something they are eager to explore and they value the young people in the organisation and what they can bring to the table. At Gamuda, nobody is really too young or old to be a contributor. If someone has a good idea then there will certainly be support given to help bring that idea to life,” he said and added that the Gamuda Scholarship is one example of how the company is seriously investing in young people and talent.

For more information on Gamuda Scholarship and its’ development programmes, click here.