Article contributed by Sarah Yong Li Hsien, Officer, and photos by Vilashini Vijayan, Executive Officer, Bar Council
On 7 Jan 2016, a group of nine construction management students from Columbia University, New York, paid a visit to the Bar Council Secretariat to meet with the Bar Council Construction Law Committee (“CLC”). The students were led by Ibrahim Odeh, Head of the Columbia University’s Construction Management Programme and Director of Research, as well as the founder of Global Leaders in Construction Management of the university.
The purpose of the visit was to learn more about the Malaysian construction market and the challenges that are faced, from a legal practitioner’s perspective. CLC, consisting of Wilfred Abraham, Oon Chee Kheng, Kuhendran Thanapalasingam, Rajendra Navaratnam, Choon Hon Leng and Aniz Ahmad Amirudin, took turns speaking from their experience.
This was followed by a question-and-answer session with the students who posed various queries on related matters, such as the effects of an economic downturn on the construction market, the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (“TPPA”), safety concerns in relation to development, technological advancements in planning or designing of projects, the Construction Courts, and others.
The visitors were very grateful for the hospitality extended to them and for the lively and beneficial meeting with CLC.