JURUKUR PERUNDING SERVICES SDN. BHD.

Surveyors

The Jurukur Perunding Services Sdn. Bhd. office, where maps come to life.
 mapping out the
future
Tuan Haji Mohd. Nordin Haji Sabran walks us through the
landscape of surveying in Malaysia with Jurukur Perunding
Services Sdn. Bhd. as the nation's leading firm in the field.
"There are around 400 million surveyors out there today," said Tuan Haji Mohd. Nordin bin Sabran, the Founder of Jurukur
Perunding Services Sdn. Bhd., referring to electronic and communication devices fitted with GPS (Global Positioning System)
technology that is available to the general public. "Surveying is not exclusive anymore but our role as Professional Surveyors
is still crucial for development and progress" Tuan Haji states.
Established in 1974 as Jurukur Perunding
and incorporated as a 'Sendirian Berhad'
in 1978, the company started off provid
ing professional surveying, mapping and
geomatics-related services to the public
and private sectors, serving Malaysia at
the onset of the country's rapid devel
opment and economic growth. Today, as
the nation's leading provider of these
services, the firm has in-house capabili
ties and competence in hydrographic
surveying and mapping, space imaging,
aerial mapping and digital photogram-
metry and geoinformatics working from
space, air and over land and sea.
"Currently, the business environment is
very competitive but is not so financially
rewarding," Tuan Haji continues. "These
are the challenges of being in a border
less market place. The internet revolu
top and bottom: The Jurukur Perunding tion today is the driving force behind
Services office.
this competitiveness, aiding cross border
trade and the proliferation of digitized
maps like Google Maps. Before the ad
vent of these advancements, there was
a lot of money to be made from street
maps with the GPS system providers.
But right now, the number of free maps
in cyberspace is moving into overload."
The landscape of the profession
clearly changed, but even with the ad
vancements of relevant technologies, a
surveyor's responsibility has only be
come greater. Winding the clock back 30
years, Tuan Haji recalls what a surveyor's
role used to be, "Back then, there were
fewer people and fewer activities so, if
an underground pipe was accidently dug
up, the impact was minimal. But can you
imagine if a pipe or a fiber optics cable
was accidently dug up today? In just a
few hours, whole businesses might come
to a halt and millions of Ringgit may be
lost. That is where we come in as sur
veyors. It is our responsibility to map out
not just the surface of the sites but the
underground as well to minimize such
mishaps," explains Tuan Haji.
But the work of a surveyor does not stop
after the maps of wavy blue and green
lines are drawn. "Surveying and gather
ing information is an on-going process.
For example, our professional surveyors
are currently working on a project along
the coast of Terengganu," Tuan Haji says.
"The team is surveying and gathering
spatial and related information, updating
our clients regularly with every bit of in
formation, about the physical aspect of
the coastline, the intensity of the winds,
the currents and the rise and fall of
has tides. We always provide a high level of
integrity in the data set we provide to
JURUKUR PERUNDING SERVICES 5DN. BHD. 117
All about maps: our clients. But it is not only about data collection
Lines of green, red,
nowadays. We need to consider our role not only
blue and black on
within the stretch of coastline we are surveying,
vast sheets of paper
but the bigger picture so to speak, the environ
mark the interior fa
cade at the office. ment, the community and the economy."
Headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, Jurukur Perunding
has seven other offices including one in Brunei.
With the experience and nationwide network, )P5
has sufficient local presence and capacity
muster and deploy appropriate as well as substan
tial resources to undertake tasks that can be ex
tensive in scope and reach. It is no surprise that
JPS has had a hand in most major development
and infrastructure projects in the country. Whilst
architectural and construction companies
credit for the many iconic buildings in Putrajaya or
the development of the Kuala Lumpur International
Airport, JPS was the lead surveyor for
renowned locations and should also take a chunck
of the credit. Down south, JPS also played a key
role in the ongoing development of the Iskandar
Development as well as the Port of Tanjung
Pelepas, which was just a sleepy fishing village be
fore its survey team arrived on site to commence
the site survey and investigation. At the moment,
Tuan Haji and his team are engaged in a number
of development and infrastructure projects around
the country. Of course, JPS's services are not con
fined to Malaysia's shores. It has undertaken proj
ects in several ASEAN, Asian and African countries.
"One of the projects we are proud to be part of is
the UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund). We
were the Technical Advisors for the UNFPA project
for the preparation of enumeration maps from aer
ial photography and orthophotography. During the
course of the project, we met and discussed the
project with various stakeholders including civil so
ciety and in the process, went to the poorer parts
118
of Dhaka to meet some of these stakeholders, to
speak to them, to understand their concerns. We
went to the ground, so to speak - this is survey
ing," shares Tuan Haji and reveals that the future
direction of JPS would be to venture outside
Malaysia with more intent.
"We do know what we need to do. Since the late
80s, we've been working towards venturing over
to seas but only when opportunities come to us. Now,
we need to be more planned and deliberate to
seek out these opportunities, regionally and then
internationally," says Tuan Haji. While 90 percent
of JPS's projects are still local, the firm has big am
bitions to benchmark itself with global competitors
take that have the capacity for R&D and thus, pushing
the boundaries of the science of surveying.
both One of the many steps forward taken by JPS, be
sides heavily investing in the latest available tech
nologies, is ongoing training that the firm provides
for its current and new staff.
"We believe in training and providing opportunities
for training. Investment in training can fuel the
company with a group of knowledgeable and
skilled staff. We can't stop investing in training and
spotting emerging trends in technologies as our
staff need the knowledge and skills to man new
technologies. It's a move forward in tandem with
the cycle of progress," Tuan Haji said.
Many professionals have come through this cycle
under the JPS banner and along the way, formed
firms offering similar services to JPS. Despite com
petition, JPS remains unfazed and sees only pos-
tive outcomes. "We believe in contributing to the
profession. It is about the entire profession moving
forward, not just us alone," states Tuan Haji. To
date, JPS has contributed five Past Presidents of
 contacts
Jurukur Perunding Sdn. Bhd. Terengganu
Selangor 46-B, Tingkat 2,
Headquarters Jalan Sultan Zainal Abidin,
7, jalan Industri PBP3, 20000 Kuala Terengganu,
Taman Perindustrian Malaysia.
Pusat Bandar Puchong, Tel: +609 622 5118
47100 Puchong, Selangor, Fax: +609 631 5118
Malaysia.
Tel: +603 5623 322S Perak
Fax: +603 8062 2999 50, Jalan Ghazali Jawi,
Email: Oalan Kampong Simee),
director@ipsurveys.com 31400 Ipoh, Perak,
Malaysia.
I Melaka Tel: +605 545 0077
N0.M1-4-31, Fax: +605 547 4658
Kompleks Yayasan
the Institution of Surveyors and also one as President of Bella Sedunia, Pulau Pinang
the ASEAN Federation of Land Surveying and Geomat- (WYF Complex), No. 76,
ics - clearly an achievement that puts JPS on the map Lebuhraya Ayer Keroh, Lim Lean Teng Road,
among the surveying, mapping and geomatics profes 75450 Melaka, 11600 Pulau Pinang,
sionals in the world.d Malaysia. Malaysia.
Tel: +606 231 8070 Tel: +604 281 8488
Fax: +606 233 1735 Fax: +604 281 6488
THE FOUNDERS
Johor Brunei
TUANHAJI MOHD. NORDINBIN HAJISABRAN 5-01, Jatan Pitai Block C, Unit ii,
Tuan Haji Mohamed Nordin Bin Hj Sabran is a fellow and Past Perdana 11/2, 2nd Floor,
President of the Institution of Surveyors, Malaysia and a Mem Taman Sri Pulai Perdana, Kg. Pengkalan Gadong,
ber of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. He ob 81110 Skudai, Johor, BE3719,
tained his qualification in land surveying from North East Malaysia. Negara Brunei Darusalam.
London Polytechnic, United Kingdom in 1972. Tuan Haji then Tel: +607 520 4328 Tel: +6732 451 546 /
returned to the Department of Survey and Mapping Malaysia Fax: +607 521 4328 +6732 456 357
and was posted as a District Surveyor in Kelantan before being Fax: +6732 456 358
re-assigned to the Headquarters years later. He left the De Kedah
partment and founded Jurukur Perunding Services Sdn. Bhd. 145-B & 146-B Tingkat 2,
'n 1-975 ar)d has been associated with the organisation since. Kompleks Alor Setar,
He was also a member of the Land Surveyors Board Malaysia Lebohraya Darulaman,
as well as President of the Association of Authorised Land Sur 05100 Aior Setar, Kedah,
veyors Malaysia between 1988 and 1990. Malaysia.
Tel: +604 731 2604
KHOOBOOKHEAN Fax: +604 731 6560
Dr. Khoo Boo Khean started his professional surveying career
with Huntings Surveys Limited of the United Kingdom in 1963,
after successfully passing the final examinations of the Royal
Institution of Chartered Surveyors in the United Kingdom.The
following year, he joined the Selangor State Development Cor
poration as its Chief Surveyor and also lectured at the then
Technical College {now Universiti Teknologi Malaysia). His
taste of private practise began with a stint as partner of
Syarikat Jurukur Malaysia before striking out on his own -
founding Jurukur Perunding Services Sdn. Bhd. He is a fellow
and Past President of the Institution of Surveyors Malaysia, a
fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, Institu
tion of Civil Engineering Surveyors and Singapore Institute of
Surveyors and Valuers. He is also a Past President of the
ASEAN Federation of Land Surveying and Geomatics.

JURUKUR PERUNDING SERVICES SON. BHD.