Over in Malaysia, there have been numerous arguments put across these two simple abbreviations, Dr. and Ir., for doctor and engineer respectively. Why? Loads of people are carrying these prefix before their names, and also there are people who claimed that they are one.
First thing first. Dr.!
Using
dictionary.com to help me figure this abbreviation out, according to definition of WordNet ® 2.0, © 2003 Princeton University,
Dr. is a noun, the abbreviation for all these guys;
1: a person who holds Ph.D. degree from an academic institution; "she is a doctor of philosophy in physics" [syn:
doctor,
Dr.]
2: a licensed medical practitioner; "I felt so bad I went to see my doctor" [syn:
doctor,
doc,
physician,
MD,
Dr.,
medico].
Okay, but in the UK, most of the medical practitioners are called GP. I don't know whether they go around carrying the prefix Dr. in front of their name in their calling cards!
Interestingly, in latin,
doctor means teacher!
Quoting
wikipedia,
"Doctor means teacher in Latin. It has been used continuously as an honored academic title for over a millennium in Europe, where it dates back to the rise of the university. This use spread to the Americas, former European colonies, and is now prevalent in most of the world. As a prefix – “Dr” – its primary designation is a person who has obtained a doctorate — that is, an advanced university degree whose completion involves extensive research. However, in the last two centuries of popular use in English-speaking and many other countries, the noun doctor has come to be used widely to refer to physicians (medical doctors), who are also granted use of the prefix as a courtesy title, whether or not they hold doctorates. The primary medical qualification in the UK and in many Commonwealth Countries is the degree of 'Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery' (MB BS, MB ChB, BM BCh or MB BChir, depending on the University granting the award). After qualification, medical practitioners may then read for the postgraduate research degree of 'Doctor of Medicine'."
Secondly, Ir.
Dictionary.com didn't give me the definition that I was seeking for. However, the term
engineer , courtesy of
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company, it is defined as a noun of;
1: One who is trained or professionally engaged in a branch of engineering.
2: One who operates an engine.
3: One who skillfully or shrewdly manages an enterprise.
It is also a verb,
engineer, meaning;
1: To plan, construct, or manage as an engineer.
2: To alter or produce by methods of genetic engineering: “Researchers... compared insulin manufactured by bacteria genetically engineered with recombinant DNA techniques to the commercial insulin obtained from swine or cattle” (Fusion).
3: To plan, manage, and put through by skillful acts or contrivance; maneuver.
Engineer is originally Middle English enginour, from Old French engigneor, from Medieval Latin ingenitor, contriver, from ingenire, to contrive, from Latin ingenium, ability.
In Malaysian context, if one were to peruse the Act 138, the Registration of Enginners Act, (Revised 2002), one would find this on
PART I PRELIMINARY, few definitions such as
"registered Engineer" means a Graduate Engineer, Professional Engineer, Temporary Engineer or Accredited Checker;
“Graduate Engineer" means a person registered under subsection 10(1);
"Professional Engineer" means an Engineer registered under subsection 10(2);
"Temporary Engineer" means a person registered under section 10A.
"Accredited Checker" means a person registered under Section 10B;
At PART III - REGISTRATION OF ENGINEERS, item 7, one would find that:-
(1) No person shall, unless he is a Professional Engineer-
(a)practise, carry on business or take up employment which requires him to carry out or perform professional engineering services;
(aa)be entitled to describe himself or hold himself out under any name, style or title -
(i) bearing the words "Professional Engineer", or the equivalent thereto in any other language;
(ii) bearing any other word whatsoever in any language which may reasonably be construed to imply that he is a Professional Engineer; or
(iii)using the abbreviation “Ir.” before his name or the abbreviation “P.Eng.” after his name or in any way in association with his name;
(b) use or display any sign, board, card or other device representing or implying that he is a Professional Engineer;
(c) be entitled to recover in any court any fee, charge, remuneration or other form of consideration for any professional engineering services rendered; or
(d) use the stamp as prescribed in the Second Schedule.
(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1) -
(a) a Graduate Engineer may, subject to section 8, take up employment which requires him to perform professional engineering services; and
(b) a person who is a Professional Engineer by virtue of section 10(2)(iii) as in force on the appointed date and who, on the 1st March, 1974, was not practising as an engineer in private practice shall not, at anytime after that date, so practise unless –
(i) he holds a certificate from the Board that he has obtained a professional qualification approved by the Board; or
(ii) he is a Corporate Member of the Institution of Engineers (Malaysia).
(3) Where a person holds a certificate -
(a) issued under the Electricity Act, 1949, the Factories and Machinery Act 1967 or any other written law or any regulations made thereunder, certifying him to possess a qualification prescribed for the purposes of those Acts of those Acts or other written law; or
(b) issued by any person, body, authority or institution specified from time to time by the Board by notification in the Gazette, certifying him to hold a qualification for the purposes of any vocation, nothing in subsection (1) shall prohibit such person -
(c) to carry on any practice or business or take up any employment that requires the certificate or that is authorised or enabled thereby to be carried on or taken up;
(d) to do so under whatever name or title he may use by virtue of being the holder of certificate; or
(e) to recover in any Court any fee, charge, remuneration or other form of consideration for any advise or services rendered pursuant to his practice, business or employment carried on or taken up by virtue of the certificate, subject to such restrictions as may be imposed in the certificate.
Subsection 10. mentioned earlier on, indicated that
(1)
(a) Subject to this Act, a person who holds –
(i) the qualifications required for Graduate Membership of the Institution of Engineers (Malaysia) and which are recognised by the Board; or
(ii) any qualification in engineering which is recognised by the Board, shall be entitled on application to be registered as a Graduate
Engineer.
(b) Subject to this Act, a person who is registered as a Graduate Engineer under paragraph (a) shall be required to obtain such practical experience as may be prescribed by the Board in order to be entitled to apply for registration as a Professional Engineer under subsection (2).
(2) Subject to this Act, the following persons shall be entitled on application to be registered as Professional Engineers:
(i) any person who -
(a) is registered as a Graduate Engineer and has obtained the practical experience as prescribed under paragraph (1)(b);
(b) has passed a professional assessment examination conducted by the Board, or is a Corporate Member of the Institution of Engineers (Malaysia); and
(c) has complied with all the requirements of the Board;
(ii) any person who, on the appointed date, was a Corporate Member of the Institution of Engineers (Malaysia) or held a professional qualification which the Board considers to be equivalent thereto;
(iii)any person who satisfies the Board that he was practising or was carrying on business or was employed as a bona fide engineer immediately before the appointed date and who applies for registration within twelve months of that date:
Provided that a person who comes within the scope of subsection 7(3), shall not be entitled to be registered under this paragraph unless he holds a professional qualification recognised by the Board for the purposes of this Act; and
(iv)any person who, on the appointed date, had obtained a qualification which would have entitled him to be registered as a Graduate Engineer by virtue of subsection (1)(a) and who, after that date, has obtained outside Malaysia a professional qualification which the Board
considers to be equivalent to that required for Corporate Membership of the Institution of Engineers (Malaysia), and has passed a professional assessment examination conducted by the Board.
(3) For the purpose of subsection (2)(iv), a person shall be treated as having obtained a professional qualification outside Malaysia if,
while undergoing the necessary course of studies, receiving the necessary instruction and training, and acquiring the necessary practical experience, he was entirely or mostly absent from Malaysia.
(4) Subject to this Act, only a citizen or a permanent resident of Malaysia may qualify for registration as a Graduate Engineer or
Professional Engineer and no person shall be entitled to be registered as a Professional Engineer unless he is at the time of application for registration, and has been for a period of not less than six months prior to the date of application, residing in Malaysia.
(5) No person shall be entitled to be registered as a Professional Engineer if at any time prior to his registration there exist any facts
or circumstances which would have entitled the Board to cancel his registration pursuant to section 15.
(6) Subsection 17(3) and 19(1) shall apply mutatis mutandis to any person whose application for registration has been rejected pursuant
to subsection (5).
Nothing is said about one's own initiative in calling oneself an 'engineer'!
I hope this post could have been of some help for all the arguments, pros and cons,
MINE included!
ps: Old Engineer, let's not drag parents and parenting into this argument okay? If you have problem about graduation, or not graduating, it's beyond the scope of the argument. Carry on 'engineering' as you deemed fit.
