ici 2

1.
11JUNE2015
ISSUE1
VISANITY
LIVING A LAVISH LIFESTYLE
IINTERVIEW WITH
MR JEFFREY
PROFESSION
CIVIL ENGINEERING
SAFETY OUR CONCERN
OUR PRIORITY
THE CREW
YAP CHOE HOONG
WONG CHO MUN
ERIC TEO CHIANG LOONG
THERESA THIA AI MIN
TAN KE WEH

3.
7
BIOGRAPHY
- DIRECTOR OF QUALITY DESIGN BUILD
(QDB VENTURES SDN BHD),
MIEM P. ENG, MBA (AUS), B. ENG (HONS) UK
- QUANTITY SURVEYOR
- AGE : 43
- GENDER : MALE
N
IR JEFFREY
C.P. KWAN
Key skills for civil engineers (Advice)
• commercially aware and capable of working well within a team
environment.
• sound mathematical and technical skills including physics
• ability to think methodically, to design, plan and manage projects
• ability to maintain an overview of entire projects while continuing
to attend to detailed technicalities
• excellent verbal and written communication skills
• negotiating, supervisory and leadership skills combined with
the ability to delegate

4. =
INSIGHT
CIVIL
ENGINEER
Civil Engineers plan,
design and oversee
construction and
maintenance of building
structures and facilitates
Civil engineers can
either be consulting
engineers who advise on
projects and design
them, or contracting
engineers who turn
their plans into reality
and maintain the
structures once they are
built.
Road, railway, airport,
bridge, harbour, dam,
irrigation project, power
plant, water, sewerage
system, high rise
building/skyscraper
JOB SCOPE:
STRUCTURES
WITHIN JOB
SCOPE:
AREYOU WONDERING? WHAT DOES A CIVIL ENGINEER DO?
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What other professionals do you usually cooperate with?
We deal with architects, quantity surveyor, mechanical engineer and structural
engineer.
What are the differences in calculation between a Quantity Surveyor and
a Civil Engineer?
Two are equally towards calculations.The difference is that quantity surveyor is
more towards cost calculations, nothing to do with the design part while civil
engineering is more towards design calculations based on scientific theories.
Which profession stands out the most?
We are a developing country.All the professions are in high demand.The level of
competition is equal for all professions in the construction industry.
Do you work overtime often?
Working as a civil engineer you may be required to work away from home for
periods of time. Frequent visits to sites may also be necessary, especially for new
graduates.Travel abroad may be possible with a large consultancy company.
While regular office hours are the norm, you may have to work for long days and
some weekends close to project deadlines. Overnight and weekend stay may be
required for site inspection. Site engineers and managers
can be on call 24 hours a day.
Do you separate from family often due to overtime?
Basically we have to manage our time but for me, family
is more important.What we focus is efficiency, just do
everything in time. I seldom encourage my staffs to
work overtime, unless if there is some really big project with due date nearby.
This is because I understand that my staffs have their own lives.
Q&A

5.
7
Q&A
What's the difference between civil engineer and consultant engineer?
It's a very broad field, civil engineer can actually consist of geotechnical
engineering which deal with drainage and infrastructure, for the structural
engineers, they deal with other issues.As an consultant engineer, civil engineer
and consultant engineer are equally important. So for a building project, civil
engineer is more important, the contribution is much more. If we are talking
about civil engineers as a contractor, I can say that in a consultant industry, as a
contractor, the structural part of the whole building is contributed as much as
70%.As a contractor you actually control the rest of the sub-construction of the
plumber , the electrical engineering, the mechanical engineering and so on.You
are the head of the construction industry.You control the efficiency of the project
flow.
How long do you normally stay in site and office?
It is not fixed.We have both side, office and site, site about 60 percent and office
40 %
What's the issue you commonly face in job, site or any working
place?
The common issue is we have to put up a building from a drawing.
There are architectural drawing and engineering drawing. If you look as
an architect you would not know the structural drawing. So we have to
do double checks for both drawings. We have to make sure the product
is delivered on time. These are the few important issues. And one of
the very important issues is cost control. You see, as a company you
have to make sure that it runs efficiently and productively. You have to
control the cost. The first thing is the right thing. Try not to have
mistakes, but it is impossible to have no mistakes.

6.
1997 GRADUATED
INTI UNIVERSITY
1998
WORKING LIFE COMMENCED
CONSULTANT CIVIL ENGINEER
TIMELINE (YEAR)
2002
COMPANY ESTABLISHED
MAIN CONTRACTOR &
DIRECTOR IN QDB
2015
INTERVIEW
BYVISANITY MAGAZINE!
18
TOTAL YEARS
Quo hoc melius illico sciens
TENUS CAPAX PATET MOTUM DIGNA
WORK ACTIVITIES
Civil engineers undertake technical and feasibility studies
including site investigation.
They use a range of computer packages for developing
detailed designs.
They undertake a lot of complex and repetitive calculations.
Besides that, they liaise with clients and a variety of
professionals including architects and sub-contractors when
carrying out a project.
They compile job specifications and supervise tendering
procedures.
CIVIL
ENGINEER

7. They also resolve design and development problems,
other than managing project resources.
They hold a big responsibility in making sure the
project complies with legal requirements.
They also schedule material, equipment purchases and
deliveries.
More things to consider, they assess the sustainability
and environmental impact of projects.
Also, they ensure that their projects would run
smoothly and structures are completed within budget
and on time, though in a smaller scale compared to
Quantity Surveyor.
PROJECTS
Basically we usually focus on individual
bungalows and shop lot offices. We built 60
units of shop lots in Sungai Long.
We don’t focus projects as we’re more to
building houses and shop lots to work
towards the direction of becoming a
developer and to be on the safe side, as in
not worrying about the big sum of modal
investment. As for the other project, we are
planning to build 36 units of bungalows and
semi-D in Pandan Indah, Ampang.
My role in these 2 projects are mainly
supervising my employers and thoroughly
inspecting the progress.

9. WHY DID YOU CHOOSE CIVIL ENGINEER IN THE FIRST
PLACE?
BEFORE GOING INTO TO CHOOSING WHICH FIELD I
WISH TO STUDY, I DID A RESEARCH IN SUCH
WHETHER WHICH FIELD SUITS ME. MY STRENGTH
IS ON MATHEMATIC AND SCIENCE STREAM. MY
PREFERENCES WERE ON ENGINEERING SUBJECTS,
AS REFERRED TO STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING,
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING, CHEMICAL
ENGINEERING AND CIVIL ENGINEERING. ONE OF
THE REASONS I CHOSE CIVIL ENGINEERING IS
BECAUSE I LOVE MATHS.
HOW LONG HAS THIS COMPANY BEEN ESTABLISHED?
THIS COMPANY WAS SET UP IN 2002, UNTIL NOW
2015 IT HAS BEEN 13 YEARS.
HOW DID YOU SET UP THIS COMPANY?
I SET UP THIS COMPANY AFTER I’VE ACCUMULATED
5 YEARS EXPERIENCE AS A CONSULTANT WHEN
THE OPPORTUNITY AROSE.
PERSONAL LIFE
& INTERVIEW
WHAT ISSUE DO YOU FACE WHEN YOU’RE OVERSEAS?
MALAYSIANS HAVE DIFFERENT EDUCATION SYSTEM
AND CULTURE FROM OVERSEAS. WE ARE
CULTURALLY SPOON FED IN MALAYSIA WHILE IN
OVERSEAS, YOU HAVE TO BE INDEPENDENT AND
STAND ON YOUR FEET. MY FIRST YEAR WAS IN INTI
COLLEGE AND SECOND YEAR STRAIGHT TO THE
UNITED KINGDOM. SO IN THE OVERSEAS
EDUCATION SYSTEM WE HAVE TO SEARCH
EVERYTHING OURSELVES, DO EVERYTHING
OURSELVES. I WAS NOT EASILY ADAPTED TO THE
SITUATION AT FIRST. BUT AFTER SOMETIMES OF
EFFORT YOU PUT IN, THE SITUATION WILL SLOWLY
CHANGE.
WHAT PROBLEM YOU FACED WHEN STARTING UP A
COMPANY?
SO FIRST YOU HAVE TO GET A JOB AND GET
EXPERIENCE. FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT IS VERY
IMPORTANT AND ALSO EXPERIENCE ARE REQUIRED
TO SET UP A COMPANY. I SOLD OFF MY HOUSE TO
GET FINANCIAL SUPPORT TO SET UP MY COMPANY.
SO ALL THE WAY I HAVE FACED A LOT OF
TROUBLES AND PROBLEMS BUT I HAD TO
ENCOUNTER IT TO BE SUCCESSFUL IN THE FUTURE.
ANY SELF MOTIVATION TIPS?
SO FIRST, I DID GET A MBA AND I LEARNED A LOT
FROM IT AND ITS A BENEFIT TO THE CAREER.
SURVIVING IN THE REALITY WORLD AND MONEY IS
MY MOTIVATION.