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Pengiran Haji Zain bin Pengiran Haji Salleh

Getting The Job Done With Hard Work, Humility and Enthusiasm

Pengiran Haji Zain bin Pengiran Haji Salleh was in a jovial mood. With his ready smile and cheerful disposition, he does appear enthusiastic and eager to share his wealth of experience with RAKAN readers.

Pengiran Haji Zain was born in a small village called Kampung Dagang in Bintulu on 4th June 1942. That village no longer exists because that’s where the 4-star Plaza Hotel currently stands. His early days in Bintulu was a far distant memory. He remembered that he was not very interested in school until a new and very strict principal arrived. He took his studies seriously after that.

His good academic performance got him selected to attend Batu Lintang School in 1955. Among his classmates then are today’s well-known personalities like Tan Sri Alfred Jabu and YB Senator Wan Ullok. He spent his later secondary school days in St. Joseph School where he passed the Senior Cambridge examination, a feat that was real exemplary at that time. He went on to do his Diploma in Agriculture before he proceeded to earn a Bachelor’s Degree in Rural Science. He joined the Civil Service as an Agriculture Officer in 1971,and for his first posting, he was assigned to work in Sri Aman. His main task then was to train forest guards, survey technicians, and agricultural officers at the National Resources Training Centre (NRTC). A year later he was posted as an Agriculture Officer with the Sarawak Land Development Board (SLDB), where he worked for 14 years until 1986.

With his international circle of classmates and friends while studying in Australia

The Early Challenges Of Oil Palm Plantation Schemes

Pengiran Zain’s most memorable years in the State Civil Service were the 14 years he spent with the Sarawak Land Development Board since its establishment in 1972. He served the new statutory body as an agricultural officer for six years before assuming the post of its general manager in 1977, a post he held for the next nine years. Faced with a daunting task of promoting large-scale land development schemes to resettle landless families and reduce poverty in the State, SLDB began operation with 1,175 settler families. Each family was allocated about four hectares of young rubber trees and a house for which they had to repay SLDB through deduction from the sales of latex to its factories. Later the schemes were converted to the commercial cultivation of cocoa and oil palm.

“The early years of the plantation business was very difficult”, he recalled. Referring to the proposed 40,000 hectares of oil palm plantation along the Miri-Bintulu belt in Ulu Mukah, the project encountered many teething problems. Besides the lack of experience in running large –scale commercial plantations, he had to weather the issues of insufficient infrastructures as well as shortage of workers. The situation became so bad that he had to hire workers from Tawau in Sabah to work in the estates. SLDB also had to build their own wharf in Miri to facilitate the transportation of palm oil to the waiting tankers offshore.

One for the album. A memorable moment during his visit to an agriculture field in Cameroon, West Africa

These limitations and other contributing factors made it difficult for him to run the organization effectively. “I wanted to resign so many times but my resignation was not accepted”, he recalled. “My job was definitely not for the fainthearted”, he continued.“The problems seemed endless”, he explained, “that many of his colleagues left for greener pastures”.

Like a captain abandoned by his crew to fight the stormy seas, the scary task of saving the sinking ship took a lot of guts, plenty of skills and a very strong spirit. His hard work, commitment and dedication to the project saw him through the nine years at the helm.

Moving On

After SLDB, Pengiran Haji Zain brought with him invaluable experiences to his next post as an Advisor to the Ministry of Agriculture in 1986, a job which he held for 8 years until 1993. In his capacity as advisor, Pengiran Haji Zain provided general advisory and technical inputs to the Ministry.

At the Agriculture Officer’s Meeting held in Kuching in 1971. Among them are the present Deputy Chief Minister, Tan Sri Datuk Amar (Dr) Alfred Jabu, former Agriculture Director, Encik Julaihi Ismail, former SALCRA General Manager, the late Datu Denys Lang and former Yayasan Sarawak Director, Datu Dr. Hatta Solhee and Jacob Sagan

In May 1993, he was appointed as the Resident of the Samarahan Division. “ Being a Resident of a fairly new division was both enjoyable and a great challenge”, he said. His new position was an honour and a huge responsibility. “As the “Head” of the whole Division, I must ensure that development reach the people and progress takes place”, he added.

After serving two terms as the Resident of Samarahan, he could finally sit back to enjoy the fruits of his labour. He was proud to be a part of the transformation of Samarahan from a remote farming community to what it is oday. “The development of Samarahan is nothing short of amazing”, he observed. The establishment of two universities, University Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) and University Technology MARA, is proof of the synergistic cooperation between the government and the people to bring about progress and development”, he added.

Enjoying His Job

Pengiran Haji Zain had many memorable moments during his two-term tenure as the Resident of Samarahan.

“The opportunity to meet lots of people, get to know them, understand their cultures and traditions and be able to help them improve their lives is one of the best perks of the job”, he explained.

He recalled one very exciting incident when he had to order a large scale search of a killer crocodile which had claimed its latest victim in one of the villages. “ The State Secretary gave us only 20 days to find it. We had to rope in the police, the marine and even a bomoh to catch the monster”, he recalled. They found the crocodile in less than 20 days with the dead man’s Seiko watch still intact in its belly.

His job as the Resident of Samarahan Division provided him the opportunities to meet the people from all walks of life

In July 1999, Pengiran Haji Zain was appointed as a member of the Board of Directors for the Public Service Commission. Having held that position for the last 4 years made him realize one thing, “that Sarawak has truly come a long way.We have more graduates than ever before and the competition for government jobs is so stiff”, he said pointing to a tall pile of application letters on his desk.

More Efficient Civil Service

He also noted that one of the changes that he is most proud of about our Civil service is “in the quality of our service. It has improved much over the years. Besides better infrastructures, facilities and training and the establishment of the Client’s Charter in many government agencies and departments, the government officers of today are able to execute their work in a more professional and effective manner”.

“The improved economy also means security, better rewards system and excellent opportunities to continuously improve themselves. The chances for promotions or other career development options are much greater than before,” he added.

Pengiran Haji Zain’s humble advice to the younger officers serving in the public sector is to always keep what he coined as his recipe of HOPE alive.

H – for honesty. Integrity, ethics and moral values are important qualities to uphold when executing one’s duties.

O - for Open–mindedness. Be ready and receptive to changes and new ideas as well as constructive criticisms.

P - for Professionalism and Pride. Take pride in what you do and do it well

E – for Empathy, Enthusiasm and Enjoyment.

Be mindful of your coworkers, customers and clients. Teamwork is crucial and have lots of fun doing your work.

Discussing crucial matters with a visiting Minister and estate managers at SLDB’s site office in Subis

Having held several high ranking posts in the Service, he knew how easy it is for high level officials to be overwhelmed by power and status. He acvise them to always be humble, emphatic and thankful for their good fortune. “Do not let negative thoughts and super egos get in the way”, he added. “There is no short cut to success. Resilience, hard work and relentless pursuit for continuous improvement will pay off eventually”, he concluded.

Pengiran Haji Zain is a member of PORLA, PORIM, PMB. He is also the Chairman of the Lembaga Pengurusuan Madrasah Datuk Haji Abdul Kadir Hassan and the Chairman for the Lembaga Amanah Kebajikan Daerah Samarahan (1993-99)

He is married to Hajah Hajijah and they have four sons and two daughters.