Already in the soils are three young Malaysians who have worked in Menard for many years, experienced a career growth and currently holding regional roles. Sharing their personal journeys of transition, they have one thing in common – a passion for the industry.

“The technical expertise that comes from working exposure with an international company is invaluable” says Project Manager, Mohamad Fashan, who graduated from University Putra Malaysia in Civil Engineering. Fashan started with Menard in 2002 as a junior engineer, before deciding to pursue a local company for five years. He then returned to Menard as a Project Engineer and was promoted
to a Site/Project Manager with regional responsibilities.

“I like working with huge machineries, especially with state- of- art technology. That’s my passion” says Fashan. In response to why he chose to work with Menard “This is an international company which is at the forefront of technological advances. I wanted to gain the exposure in terms of how Menard manage major international projects as compared to local companies.”

“It’s been eight years, but every day is so rewarding”. Fashan emphasize on the importance of on-the job training, involving project and people management which has provided him intensive exposure and improved his technical capabilities.

Menard’s Regional Technical Director, Richard Ong left Menard twice and has recently returned for the third time. Richard took up Geotechnical Engineering in Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, even though it was the least popular subject.

“Geotechnical engineering was not enrolled by many students, but I saw it as an opportunity. It’s a very specialized field, and I knew this talent will be in great demand,” he says.

Richard seized the opportunity, graduating as a top student in the faculty of civil engineering in year 2000. His career started with Menard as a project engineer for nine months before deciding to continue his studies. When asked about why he returned to Menard after leaving twice, Richard explains it’s the
experience. The company has good technology and I think there’s tremendous growth potential.

This enthusiastic attitude is also shared by Menard’s Regional Health Safety and Environment (HSE) manager, Vicky Nathan. The former DJ studied accounting, certificated with an ACCA degree but developed an interest in Health and Safety after meeting a Japanese national from the manufacturing and construction sector.

“Having been in this field for a couple of years, I can see that Menard’s operations is of high standard. Menard practices legally competent safety guides of very high standards and it’s been a great learning experience,” he explains.

Vicky added that Menard adopts practises that main contractors use, despite being a subcontractor. “We are trying to implement the OHSAS (18001) system. It is used to standardise the documentation and presentation of all the countries that Menard operates in, so that it meets different countries’ safety guidelines. This system is equivalent to ISO certification for safety.”

Having been in Menard for only ten months, Vicky also says that the company has a culture of rewarding talent. “In Menard, if you have talent, they will send you to different countries for opportunities and gain exposures to what projects are like in different places around the globe.”