The Programme of Architecture, Faculty of Built Environment and Surveying (FABU), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) had successfully hosted a webinar entitled “Envisioning Architecture Education for Malaysia” on 22nd December 2020 (Tuesday) from 2.00 p.m. till 5.00 p.m. through Cisco Webex online platform.

The webinar had 195 registered participants and received more than 1.5k views from Facebook live. The participants were from various locations in Malaysia with different backgrounds (professional architect, academician, interior designer, quantity surveyor, students, and others) who were concerned about the future of architecture education in Malaysia. 

The three hours webinar started with a montage presentation to introduce the invited speakers with their keynote titles and followed by an opening remark by its moderator, Prof. Dr. Syed Ahmad Iskandar Syed Ariffin as well as recitations of Du’a by Dr. Aiman Mohd Rashid from FABU (Architecture) UTM.

The moderator, Prof. Syed Ahmad Iskandar who is also the Executive Director of Institut Sultan Iskandar and the Member of Council of Architectural Accreditation and Education Malaysia (CAAEM) under Board of Architects Malaysia (LAM), had briefed the participants on the programme background of The Direction of Architectural Education In Malaysia 2030 (Halatuju Pendidikan Senibina Negara 2030) empowered by the Council of Heads of Architecture Schools (COHAS) Malaysia.

The webinar was officiated by Ar. Zairul Azidin Badri, the President of Board of Architects Malaysia (LAM) with a welcoming speech and followed by the keynote address by Prof. Dato’ Seri Dr. Mohamed Mustafa Ishak, the Director General of Higher Education, Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE) Malaysia.

After a brief introduction of the first expert panel biodata by the moderator, Tan Sri Dato’ Ar. Hj. Esa Hj. Mohamed who was the first speaker, started off with his sharing entitled “Architectural Education – Future Technologies”. Tan Sri Esa is currently the Managing Director of Arkitek Jururancang (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd and the Immediate Past President of the International Union of Architect (UIA). He is also the first recipient of the LAM President’s Medal in the year 2015. 

His sharing was then followed by a Q&A session on Webex and Facebook live that actively participated via both verbal and texting methods from academicians, professionals, and students around the country.

The second expert panel, Emeritus Prof. Dato’ Ar. Dr. Ellias @ Illias Salleh, who is currently the Vice-Chancellor/Chief Executive Genovasi University College, had delivered his sharing entitled “Technology Competency in Built Environment”. Dato’ Ellias had served UTM from the year 1973 till 1999. He had joined the Board of Studies for Architectural Programmes in various public and private universities as external Examiner under the Council of Accreditation and Architectural Education Malaysia (CAAEM) of Board of Architects Malaysia.

He was conferred the ‘Emeritus Professor’ by UTM in 2013, Inaugural ‘Architectural Education Award’ in 2015 by the Board of Architects Malaysia (LAM), ‘Ahli Mahkota Kedah’ (AMK 1994) and ‘Darjah Setia Diraja Kedah’ (DSDK which carries the title Dato’ in 1999) by the Kedah State Government, and Johan Setia Mahkota (JSM 2004) by the Federal Government of Malaysia.

Shortly after the sharing session by both expert panels, there was a discussion and a wrap up session to conclude at the end of the webinar. The future and challenges of architecture education in Malaysia had been discussed actively by panels and participants. Other than that, there were also discussions on the quality of graduates, the readiness of the higher learning institutions in Malaysia and architecture graduates towards industry especially the Industry Revolution 4.0, expectation of industry on graduates, and possibilities and feedbacks from speakers on current education approach in Malaysia and others.

At the end of the discussion, the session had pointed out important points on envisioning architecture education in Malaysia. The closing remark was then delivered by Ar. Zairul Azidin Badri, the President of Board of Architects Malaysia (LAM). Before the session ended, the moderator had revealed the invited panels for the upcoming webinar series in the mid of February 2021.

In short, this webinar had accomplished to achieve the mission of organising the discourse and sharing session on envisioning architecture education for Malaysia.

The details of the programme:

• Organizer: Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia (MoHE) – Department of Higher Education; Board of Architects Malaysia – Council of Architectural Accreditation and Education Malaysia (CAAEM); and Council of Heads of Architecture Schools (COHAS) Malaysia
• Webinar Host: Programme of Architecture, Faculty of Built Environment & Surveying UTM
• Moderator: Prof. Syed Ahmad Iskandar Syed Ariffin
• Welcoming Address: Ar. Zairul Azidin Badri (President, Board of Architects Malaysia (LAM)
• Keynote Address: Prof. Dato’ Seri Dr Mohamed Mustafa Ishak (Director General of Higher Education, Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE Malaysia)
• Expert Panel 1: Tan Sri Dato’ Ar. Hj. Esa Hj. Mohamed (Immediate Past President of International Union of Architect (UIA))
• Expert Panel 2: Emeritus Prof. Dato’ Ar. Dr. Ellias @ Illias Salleh (Vice-Chancellor – Chief Executive Genovasi University College)
• Head of Committee: Associate Professor Dr. Alice Sabrina Ismail
• Technical Committee: Associate Professor Dr. Khairul Anwar Mohamed Khaidzir, Associate Professor Dr. Lim Yaik Wah, Mr. Azari Mat Yasir, Ar Norshahida Azili, Dr. Aiman Mohd Rashid, Dr. Fadhlina Ahmad @ Taufik, Dr. Roshida Abdul Majid, Dr. Sharifah Salwa Syed Mahdzar, Ar. Noraslinda Abdul Rahman, Dr. Leng Pau Chung, Dr. Iziq Eafifi Ismail and Mr. Mohd Hanif Masridin.

Prepared by: Dr. Leng Pau Chung