Establishment of REAM in brief

Formation of forerunner REAAA

On 15 June 1973, some 300 participants from 19 countries attending the Conference on Road Engineering in Asia and Australasia in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, unanimously resolved that the Road Engineering Association of Asia and Australasia (REAAA) be formed with a permanent secretariat in Kuala Lumpur. A Governing Council comprising 15 persons was elected.

Establishment of the local chapter

This followed the establishment of REAAA (Malaysian Chapter) which was officially launched by the then Minister of Works, Malaysia on 17 April 1993. The Minister expressed hope that the Malaysian Chapter will help coordinate REAAA's activities in Malaysia, especially in facilitating technology transfer at local and international levels.

Change of name to meet national aspirations

At the Fourth Annual General Meeting of REAAA (Malaysian Chapter) held on the 21 April 1996, a proposal for renaming the Chapter with the objective of meeting national aspirations was tabled. Subsequently, the Committee of the Chapter was given the mandate to form an ad-hoc committee to study the proposed change of name from REAAA (Malaysian Chapter) to Road Engineering Association of Malaysia (REAM).

At the Fifth Annual General Meeting of the REAAA (Malaysian Chapter) held on 11 May 1997, the change of name from REAAA (Malaysian Chapter) to Road Engineering Association of Malaysia (REAM) was passed with the approval received from the Council of REAAA and the Registrar of Societies, Malaysia.

Current strength of REAM and activities

Today, REAM has some 850 members comprising public and corporate professionals from the Malaysian road industry in its register. All REAM members are automatically members of REAAA. REAM is actively involved in the following activities for the betterment of the Malaysian road industry:

• Production of new and updating of existing guidelines, standards and specifications relating to road engineering.
• Organising conferences, seminars, forums and exhibitions for the benefit of the road engineering community.
• Organising overseas delegations for participation in road related events including conferences, seminars and forums.
• Creating a spirit of camaraderie among the Malaysian road engineering community through hosting of social functions such as biennial dinners and annual golf tournaments.
• From the surpluses accrued from the above activities, REAM plays a pivotal role in providing financial aid to needy students in local public universities pursuing engineering and or transport related disciplines under its corporate social responsibility initiatives.
• Organising essay and technical paper presentation competitions to encourage young graduates to excel in writing conference/seminar/forum papers.