I-WAC 2016, 11.

00am, 08 October 2016

A Very Good Morning and Warm Welcome to All.

Distinguished Guests,
Yang Berbahagia, Dato Dr. Mohd. Ismail bin Abd.
Aziz,
Deputy Vice Chancellor of Universiti Teknologi
Malaysia, Skudai.
Yang Berusaha, Ir. Assoc. Prof. Hayati bte.
Abdullah,
Immediate Past Chairman, Institution of Engineers,
Malaysia
(Southern Branch).
Yang Berusaha, Ir. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sharul Kamal
bin Abdul Rahim, Vice Chairman, Institution of
Engineers, Malaysia (Southern Branch), and
Advisor to IEM UTM Students Section.

Ladies and gentlemen, students, future and fellow

engineers.

On behalf of the Executive Committee of the

Institution of Engineers, Malaysia (Southern
Branch), I congratulate the IEM UTM Students
Section for the successful organization of this IEM
Water Awareness Campaign (I-WAC 2016). I also
thank the IEM UTM Students Section for kindly
inviting us to be here at the Opening Ceremony of
I-WAC 2016.

This campaign is indeed very timely and

meaningful in the context of providing public
awareness on water conservation. It is very
encouraging to see our future engineers take such
very positive steps towards highlighting the ideals
of water conservation awareness. Creating public
awareness with the understanding of proper
management and efficient water usage, and the
very basic importance of water. Well done, to the IWAC organizing committee, Syabas!

To start, let me share some figures on World Water

and Sanitation from the water.org organization. 633
million people in the world (1 in 10) lack access to
safe water, 2.4 billion people in the world (1 in 3)
lack access to a toilet. Twice the population of the
United States of America (about 330 million
population) lives without access to safe water.
Globally, 1/3 of all the schools lacks access to safe
water and adequate sanitation. Water Crisis is
Number 1 global risk based on impact to society,
as announced by the World Economic Forum, 2015.
Clean fresh water is crucial and significant for our
very existence. No one can survive without the
supply of clean fresh water. We are all sometimes
guilty of taking our water supply for granted. We
only realize this very significance when our water
supply is disrupted and our daily lives are affected.
We are already blessed with an efficient water
supply system. Imagine the millions in so many
third world countries which do not have access to
such supply. We should count our blessings.
Climatic changes and reduced rainfall over the
years have both affected the water supply in
various regions. These water resources are also
limited. The water authorities have done their part
in ensuring a proper, efficient and sustainable
water supply network. We can all do our part in the

overall water conservation process through the

proper
management
of
our
daily
water
consumption behavior and usage. We must remind
the public of the importance of water conservation.
What exactly is this water conservation? Water
conservation includes all policies, strategies,
enforcement and activities to manage fresh water
and ensure as a sustainable resource, to protect
the water environment, and also to meet the
current and future human needs for water supply.
The key criteria for water conservation is to ensure
the availability of water supply for the future,
where the withdrawal of the fresh water from the
eco-system does not exceed the natural
replacement rate.
Water awareness campaign to create awareness on
fragility of our water resources and supply system
can be as complex as going into high technology
applications to ensure effective management of
water consumption in industrial, agricultural and
commercial entities. It can also be as simple as just
basic instructions and education to the public on
proper water saving procedures to be adopted in
their daily lives. It can also be with the introduction
of simple household equipment incorporating basic
water savings technology.

I am sure that all the activities of I-WAC 2016, have

and will instill this mindset of water conservation in
all the participants. This will especially be very
significant for the younger group of the
participants. Ensuring that water conservation
measures are a part of their daily lives. This is after
all to ensure that a sustainable water supply will be
available for these future generations. The tagline
Dont Drop Out to Save the Drop, is very apt to
remind us to always toe the line and keep the faith
in all these efforts to ensure sustainability.

In closing, again I thank the IEM UTM Students

Section on a job well done, and wish them success
in this and all future activities. Always keep in
touch with the parent body, IEM Southern Branch
and we will work together accordingly. Keep up the
good work!!