As we welcome 2013, it is also time for us to reflect on the year 2012.

The Year 2012

2012 has been an active and successful year for IKM. First, we have the inaugural Cambodian Malaysian Chemical Conference (CMCC) in Siem Reap, Cambodia from October 19 – 21, 2012. CMCC can be considered a big success by any standards. We have 210 participants out of whom 180 come from 12 countries outside Cambodia. A total of 150 presentations were made at CMCC and the presenters comprised senior professors and lecturers as well as junior academic staff and graduate students. CMCC also included social events such as welcome reception, conference dinner and a tour of the world famous Angkor Wat. All in all, the participants expressed their happiness with the conference and the social events.

We also organised the 17th Malaysian Chemical Congress (17MCC) in Kuala Lumpur from October 15 – 17, 2012 just prior to CMCC. 17MCC is the largest Malaysian Chemical Congress with 380 participants from 18 countries and 270 presentations including 8 plenary lectures. 17MCC was rated highly by the participants.

In terms of international collaboration, we did well in 2012. First, we jointly organised the Indonesia Total Laboratory Management Symposium (ITLMS) together with Himpunan Kimia Indonesia (HKI) in Jakarta, Indonesia in May 9 – 10, 2012. There were close to 100 participants in ITLMS 2012. Later on November 6, 2012, we jointly organised Vietnam Total Laboratory Management Symposium (VTLMS) in Hanoi, Vietnam together with Vietnam Association of Testing Laboratories (VINALAB). A total of 141 participants took part in VTLMS 2012.

IKM also signed a General Agreement (GA) with Kazan National Research Technological University (KNRTU) on October 30, 2012. The main objective of the GA is to jointly develop chemistry worldwide. The GA will involve exchange of faculty members and graduate students, research collaboration and joint scientific events between KNRTU and several Asian universities. This will augur well for the advancement of chemistry in Malaysia.

In addition to the above, we have also finalised our proposed Amendments to Chemists Act 1975 which is currently with the Attorney General’s Chamber for their final approval before submission to the Malaysian Parliament. We also received approval from the Malaysian Government for the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) to pay the Annual Subscription on IKM’s National Adhering Organisation (NAO) membership of IUPAC from 2012 onwards.

I believe that we can proudly claim that 2012 has been a very successful year for. IKM.

Welcoming 2013

2013 will also be an exciting year for IKM.

We are having three major scientific events in October 2013. These are the International Conference on Water and Wastewater Management (ICWWM) 2013, LabAsia 2013 and ChemAsia 2013. ICWWM 2013 is the first major international meeting dealing with all aspects of water and wastewater science, technology, economics as well as social issues. It will cover raw water resources, ground water and storm water management, effect of climate change, technology and innovation in harvesting water and many other related topics.

LabAsia 2013 is the fourth biennial laboratory exhibition to be organised by IKM and it has grown to become one of the largest laboratory shows in Asia. On the other hand, we are organising the first chemicals exhibition, ChemAsia 2013, jointly with the China National Chemical Information Center (CNCIC) and the Chemical Industries Council of Malaysia (CICM). We are expecting a large participation from chemical companies from China and other countries in Asia.

IKM Moving Forward

In addition to the above three scientific events, IKM will focus on the following in the 2013/14 session.

National and international collaboration – IKM will continue to emphasise on national and international collaboration with Malaysian and overseas organisations as well as international bodies to further promote the development of chemistry worldwide. End February 2013, we are jointly organising a series of 3 workshops, the ACS_IKM Skill Workshop for Young Scientists and Engineers, together with American Chemical Society (ACS) in Penang, Kuala Lumpur and Skudai in Johore. Our General Agreement with Kazan National Research Technological University (KNRTU) will also be put into practice with the visit by Prof German Dyakonov, the Rector of KNRTU, in early January 2013. IKM will also take steps to sign Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS), Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS), Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT) and the Chemical Industries Council of Malaysia (CICM).

On Membership, it is felt that a large member of practicing chemists in Malaysia have yet to register as members of IKM. IKM will be initiating a campaign to register all practicing chemists in Malaysia in early 2013.

On Accreditation of chemistry and chemistry-related programmes, IKM is establishing a Joint Technical Committee (JTC) under the provision of the Malaysian Qualification Agency Act 2007 to accredit chemistry and chemistry related programmes in Malaysian universities and institutions of higher learning. The JTC will comprise representatives from IKM, MOHE, MQA and other stakeholders.

IKM will further pursue the IYC 2011 objective of promoting public awareness, understanding and appreciation of chemistry with various activities including Quiz Kimia Kebangsaan Malaysia (K₃M), Karnival Kimia Malaysia (K₂M), participation in International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO), and public lectures and talks, in various places in Malaysia.

We would need the support and assistance of all IKM members for us to carry out the above programmes successfully and realise our vision of making IKM the most successful professional scientific organisation in Malaysia.

Thank you and with best wishes for a happy and successful 2013,

 

Datuk Dr Soon Ting Kueh

President, Institut Kimia Malaysia

January 2, 2013