The development of facilities management education in Malaysia: Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM)

Information relating to Malaysian education in Facilities Management (FM) is difficult to come by and has led to a less than comprehensive understanding of the current market in the minds of FM practitioners. As a fast developing country, Malaysia spends billions of Malaysian Ringgit (RM) to build world class facilities. Though the prospects of FM seems to be raising due to the accomplishment of Vision 2020, since 1997 the development of certified FM education programmes has been formed to cope with the current and future demand of FM. Efforts towards FM excellence, particularly in the Higher Education Institute (HEI), have not been advanced and progressed in academic programmes or Research and Development (R & D) activities. Furthermore, there is also a lack of awareness within the area of built environment about the importance of FM disciplines and skills to be applied. For these reasons, considering the importance of national physical and human development, the Universiti Teknologi Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM) has started to establish FM academic programmes and to develop the Centre of Excellence of Facilities Management (CEFM), as well as the Malaysian Association of Facilities Managers (MAFM) in response to the demand of FM practitioners in Malaysia. Before these have been developed, a comparative study has been prepared to understand how it is being delivered within the HEIs and other institutions in Malaysia. Hence, this paper provides the reader with an overview of FM education in Malaysia, particularly the involvement of UTHM, and how it has evolved accordingly.