INDEFATIGABLE: Former Department of Environment director-general Datuk Dr Abu Bakar Jaafar once had an ‘irrelevant’ pursuit posting though he has done a many out of what life has thrown his way
Datuk Dr Abu Bakar Jaafar’s work as an environmental scientist and nautical consultant has been duly recognized by his alma mater, that bestowed him this year’s University of Newcastle Alumni Convocation Medal for veteran excellence.
KUALA LUMPUR: IT took some bid throwing adult with Datuk Dr Abu Bakar Jaafar for an talk as a 62-year-old packs a full news even post-retirement.
This former Department of Environment director-general has not usually not slowed down though has left a conflicting trail by carrying a finger in many opposite pies — indulging in his passion and many pet interests that he put on a back-burner while in office.
The talkative and warm automatic operative by training from a University of Newcastle, Australia has bagfuls of engaging stories and charming life experiences.
For starters, he ruefully pronounced not many people can theory his home state right.
“They only don’t associate me with Malacca somehow,” he pronounced wryly, watching that his chronological state total so insignificantly in a minds of many Malaysians.
“When we was in school, my aspiration was to be a building executive and to pursue a grade in polite engineering. But we was suggested by my memorable arithmetic clergyman V. Chakaravathy, that Malaysia already had too many polite engineers.
“So we followed his recommendation and opted for automatic engineering and was awarded a Federal extend to investigate during a University of Newcastle and this is where we am today.” Paying reverence to all his teachers, he pronounced he had a good happening of carrying dedicated teachers all his propagandize life.
Although he graduated as a automatic engineer, on his lapse to Malaysia in 1973, he was asked to news for avocation as a factories and machine examiner during a Factories and Machinery Department, now a Department of Occupational Safety and Health.
His initial assignment was not on corroboration of submitted pattern of new boilers and vigour vessels to be in suitability with a germane British Standards nor on reserve investigation of dangerous machine and equipment, though on a theme of “pollution”.
“I could not even find a word wickedness in a 1963 Edition of a Oxford Dictionary in a FMD library on a initial day of work as a trainee engineer!,” he said.
Asked how he felt by a “irrelevant” pursuit posting, he pronounced he was diversion for any job. Before he knew it, he spent his whole career in a afterwards Science, Technology and Environment Ministry underneath a really understanding minister, Datuk Law Heng Dieng.
“The apportion used to let me have a giveaway palm in doing my pursuit and upheld me in my decisions.”
Along a way, Bakar went on to obtain another Federal extend for his Masters grade in Environmental Science in Jun 1976 during a Miami University, Oxford, Ohio.
In Oct that year, he successfully practical for a new post of principal partner executive in a afterwards multiplication of sourroundings (DOE) underneath a Science, Technology and Environment Ministry.
“Our evident tasks were, other than sourroundings adult national networks of atmosphere and H2O peculiarity monitoring, drafting a initial set of vital regulations relating to a control of atmosphere wickedness and effluents from palm oil mills and healthy rubber estimate factories.
“These enclosed untreated and partially treated sewage. The regulations were enforced in 1977, 1978 and 1979 respectively,” he pronounced with some satisfaction.
He forked out that a Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Procedure and Requirements were also drafted in 1977 and they came into force on Apr 1 a following year.
What gave him a biggest compensation during his time with a DOE from 1976 to 1995, other than formulating and implementing a EIA Order of 1988, were a successful graduation of private investment with an initial collateral above US$100 million (RM300 million) in substantiating a integrated poisonous and dangerous rubbish diagnosis comforts owned and operated by Kualiti Alam Sdn Bhd by requesting a polluters-pay-principle; and privatisation of national networks of continual monitoring of ambient air/water peculiarity and stream H2O peculiarity operated by Alam Sekitar Malaysia Sdn Bhd formed as most on a element of section cost saving to a government, as to a classical “economics of information” as modernized by Nobel laureate in Economics Professor George Joseph Stigler, that is a eagerness of a open to compensate for information that matters to them.
As he points out, his initial pursuit functions were not frequently reviewed nor updated though in his case, a final function: “Any other avocation reserved to…” had over time taken adult 80 per cent of his time and attention.
In 1978 and 1979, he was reserved as a member of a Delegation of Malaysia to a Third UN Conference on Law of a Sea (1972-1982) covering a subjects of insurance and refuge of a sea sourroundings and sea systematic investigate (MSR) including a control regime of MSR on a continental shelf over 200 nautical miles.
“The assignment stirred me to take adult a investigate leave after carrying cumulative an East-West Centre investigate extend underneath a EWC Environment and Policy Institute’s Programme on Extended Maritime Jurisdictions. In Aug 1980, we enrolled in a Geography Department instead of Oceanography for a PhD grade awarded in
“The hospital supposing roughly perfect, brief of heaven, a place as most to investigate as to ‘spar one’s thoughst and ideas’ quite during a roughly daily organized colloquium or during ‘brown-bag lunch’ talks by flitting scholars or fellows in residence.”
On Sept 1, 1995, during 46, he took discretionary retirement as director-general of a Department of Environment and assimilated a public-listed Kumpulan Guthrie Bhd to take adult a plea of “modernising” palm oil logging by regulating oil instead of H2O to remove wanton oil from uninformed palm fruits.
“This investigate bulletin stays outstanding, if it is not a lifetime dream,” he said.
Moving on, from 2003-2007, he supposing consultancy services on sourroundings with dual propagandize friends before determining to try out on his possess to furnish an advanced, energy-efficient environment-friendly heat-pump record for creation smoke-free soft-hydrated pleasant fruits including pisang salai or smoked developed bananas.
However, Bakar found a plea of a rural-urban business was not so most in a prolongation though in product placement and marketing.
“The sell market, generally those ‘little Napoleons’ did not see what ought to be on a floor, on a shelves, or on a table, though under,” he pronounced sarcastically.
In a meantime, his assignment during a UN domicile in New York given 1997 relating to a work of a Commission on a Limits of a Continental Shelf had been removing heavier and a series of meetings increasing exponentially from dual to 4 weeks annually to 26 weeks a year.
His shining career did not go neglected and Bakar, who is confidant to a Malaysian National Security Council, has been awarded a University of Newcastle Alumni Convocation Medal for veteran excellence.
This tip endowment was one of 8 alumni awards presented to graduates from opposite a universe in approval of their superb achievements.
Bakar, who now practises his job as an environmental scientist and nautical expert, attributes a honour of a alumni in partial to a plain support of his family who had always stood by him.
Article source: http://www.nst.com.my/nation/general/bakar-s-innovating-career-of-ideas-1.62097