(Eastern Times; September 23, 2006)

KUCHING: The younger generation must be patient in pursuing their goals, as success could not be achieved overnight.

Nowadays, despite academic qualifications, graduates are required to gain practical experience in their respective fields of expertise.

This was said by Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Dr. George Chan here at the Open Source Competition 2006 prize giving ceremony organised by Sarawak Information Systems Sdn Bhd. (SAINS) at Wisma Bapa Malaysia here yesterday.

Also present the ceremony were Director of ICT Unit, William Nyigor, Chief Operating Officer of SAINS, Teo Tien Hiong, Deputy Vice Chancellor of Unimas, Associate Professor Dr.Chua Han Bing, Director of School of Engineering and Science Curtin University Sarawak Campus, Dr. Justo Amador Diaz, Professor of Information Systems and Director of Quality Assurance, Swinburne University Sarawak Campus.

Dr. Chan said that the market demand for experienced manpower required graduates to go for on-the-job training to keep themselves abreast with the changes taking place in technology.

“Graduates must exercise patience when applying for jobs and should not be disappointed when their job application are turned down. They have to keep on trying until they are given the jobs they applying for,” he said.

On the competition, Dr. Chan commended SAINS for organising the competition to bring awareness and to promote the use of Open Source in the State.

The competition was first held in 2004 with the participants mostly from the Institution of Higher Learning in Sarawak.

Curtin University of Technology Sarawak Campus student, Lai Chiong Ching bagged the first place with his software called File Injection and Retrieval version 2 (FIRA2). The winning software earned Lai RM6,000 in cash prize.

Meanwhile, another Curtin undergraduates Chan Chen Shyang, David Wong Liang Tai and John Lau Kah Soon took the second place with their software entitled Reprogrammable Intelligent Battery Charger or RIBAC 1.0. They pocketted RM3,000 for their efforts.

An undergraduate from University Malaysia of Sarawak (Unimas), Aravin K. Manogarn with his software entitled Interactive Kuching City Map Using SVG came in third and walked away with RM1,000 cash.