This interview had been carried out to get the information about the work of a fire alarm engineer. This field is actually very important as it also contributes to the society. Nevertheless, people does not recognize them well and do not know more about their job and duty. We do not realize that there is someone working at the back stage helping the Fire and Rescue Department to make sure the safety of the occupants in the building. They make sure we are safe with setting and maintaining the system to avoid fire from spreading out. They job is more than we can describe here. Maybe we have seen the fire extinguisher in our office or when we get to the building like school, government offices, shopping complexes, private office and many other places. We actually have little knowledge about who is involved in setting, preparing and maintaining all these systems. This interview is also likely to open our mind and our hearts to know more about them and also their duty as they also play important roles in our community. Hope that this interview will add more information about the deeds and the service as Fire Alarm engineer.

1. BIOGRAPHY OF
INTERVIEW
1

2. CONTENTS
1.0 INTRODUCTION 3
2.0 BIOGRAPHY OF INTERVIEW 4
3.0 THE REPORT & INTERVIEW QUESTIONS 5
4.0 PICTURE 13
5.0 BIBLIOGRAPHY 16
2

3. 1.0 INTRODUCTION
This interview had been carried out to get the information about the work of a fire
alarm engineer. This field is actually very important as it also contributes to the society.
Nevertheless, people does not recognize them well and do not know more about their job
and duty. We do not realize that there is someone working at the back stage helping the
Fire and Rescue Department to make sure the safety of the occupants in the building.
They make sure we are safe with setting and maintaining the system to avoid fire from
spreading out. They job is more than we can describe here. Maybe we have seen the fire
extinguisher in our office or when we get to the building like school, government offices,
shopping complexes, private office and many other places. We actually have little
knowledge about who is involved in setting, preparing and maintaining all these systems.
This interview is also likely to open our mind and our hearts to know more about them
and also their duty as they also play important roles in our community. Hope that this
interview will add more information about the deeds and the service as Fire Alarm
engineer.
3

4. 2.0 BIOGRAPHY OF INTERVIEW
His full name is ……… bin ………... .He was born on 17th
March 1971. He was
the youngest from the siblings of seven. He is happily married and has four children.
During winter his hobbies are playing badminton and bowling while during summer he
likes to work in the farm.
He started working as a technical engineer in the year of 1997. Before that, he
was a dispatch, temporary teacher and also a technician. His deep interest in the technical
field made him chose to be an engineer after his ambition to be a teacher could not be
achieved. He had been working at MK Electrical in Shah Alam as a technical engineer
until 2000 and decided to quit his job and opened his own company called Cekal Tech.
Sdn. Bhd. His company expertise is more to set-up and to organize the fire alarm. He had
been involved in setting, maintaining and operating the fire alarm system including the
other works regarding this system in several governments and private offices in Klang
Valley. During the interview session on 25th
April 2011, he had given full support and
also good co-operation to me. The interview session was conducted at his office at
Sijangkang, Kuala Langat, Selangor Darul Ehsan. These are the interview:
4

5. 3.0 THE
Mrs M:
REPORT & INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
Assalamualaikum wbt. and also good morning to you Mr. …... Thank you
very much to give me this opportunity to interview you. This is really a
good experience.
5

6. Mr. …. : You are welcome. It is great too. Anything that I can help you. This is
really an honour for me.
Mrs. M : Yes Mr. …... Is this really your ambition?
Mr. ….. : I can say no. Actually, I really interested to be a teacher. I am the youngest
from seven siblings. During my childhood, I really like children and having
many siblings in the family were really a great experience. This is actually
my second ambition after I was not chosen to be a teacher or getting
involved in the education field. I did not realize about this career until I
joined it later.
Mrs. M : How can you getting involved with this career?
Mr. ….. : It happened after I worked at the MK Engineering Sdn. Bhd. in Shah Alam
a long time ago. I have been working with this company as a fire alarm
engineer. During my six years experience with this company, I have been
sent to several places for courses regarding the Fire Alarm. At first, it was a
really hard and tough job but I took it as my responsibility and managed to
handle it on my own way.
Mrs. M : Do you enjoy being the engineer of Fire Alarm?
Mr. ….. : I enjoyed it very much. I think it is a very challenging job and I really love
it so much.
Mrs.M : Why you do finally have interest with this job?
Mr. ….. : I really interested with this job because it is a very challenging job.
Furthermore, I can give my service to the society. Working as the security
alarm engineer need full passion and spirit. This is because we need to
solve many problems from big problems to the small problems. This job is
actually not all about physical but also mental. Those problems that we
face will give us full satisfaction after we can solve it or fix it later. I really
love this kind of job.
Mrs M : May you describe briefly about your job as a fire alarm engineer to me?
Mr. ….. : Absolutely yes. My job is to set up the fire alarm system. This system will
help us to avoid fire. This is the setting that have been invented to trace
fire, alarming the fire alarm, controlling and preparing the tools to avoid
fire. The setting of this system must follow the code that has been set by
the government. In determining the suitable system for the building, I need
to refer to the “1984 Small Law of Building” in the tenth schedule. As one
6

7. of the engineer involve in this system, I need to know the suitable system
for the building. The system that I set must follow the standard and also the
approval from the Fire Department. The example of the system in Active
Cover System is the system that using water, gases and also fire alarm. My
job is not just setting the fire alarm but also about to cover the Active
Cover System. This is to make sure that the building has maximum safety
whether to the building, and also to the people that using that building.
Mrs. M : Is your job also giving contribution for the society?
Mr. ….. : Yes of course. This job is actually giving many contributions to the society
by giving the safety protection from fire towards their properties such as
the things inside the building and also their life. Many of the fire cases
before, the people realized the fire when the fire started to spread or not
even realize by the people inside the building. It was really a huge loss to
them. In other scenario, when it involving human life. We and the Fire
Department helped the society with this system. We are actually the people
that working behind the stage without been realized by the society.
Mrs. M : It really good to hear that. Society did not realize this in their everyday
routine.
Mr…… : Yes, I and the people working with this system is also contributing to the
society when we make sure that the tools regarding this system is really in
good condition and can work properly. This system protecting the safety of
the society by giving them first signal so that they will prepare themselves
to face the catastrophe in the building. This will surely help them to take
fast action so that the fire can be control. As the fire alarm engineer, we
play our roles to give safety protection to the society so that they can be
save from the fire or act faster to avoid themselves getting involve in the
fire. The building that has this system is safer. Can you imagine if we
cannot detect the fire earlier? I am very thankful to god that I can
contribute to the society even though they do not know me well.
Mrs.M : Is there any Inactive Protection System?
Mr. ….. : Yes, there is. It is more likely to be known as Passive Protection System. It
is the element in the structure of the building that can be function without
the assistance or needs to stop or to block the smoke or the fire from
spreading out in the building during fire. For your information, Passive fire
7

8. protection is an integral component of structural fire protection and fire
safety in building. It attempts to contain fires or slow the spread, through
use of fire-resistant walls, floors and doors. These systems must comply
with the associated listing and approval use and compliance in order to
provide the effectiveness expected by building codes.
Mrs.M : Can you describe more about the Active Protection System?
Mr. ……. : Active Fire Protection is an integral part of fire protection. It is
characterized by items and systems which requires a certain amount of
motion and response in order to work, contrary to passive fire protection.
There are three categories of Active Fire Protection. The first is the fire
suppression, the second one is the sprinkler systems and the third one is the
fire detection.
Mrs M : Can you describe it one by one?
Mr. ….. : Yes I can. In the fire suppression, fire can be controlled or extinguished
either manually or automatically. Manual includes the use of the fire
extinguisher or a Standpipe system. Automatic means can include a fire
sprinkler system, a gaseous clean agent, or fire fighting foam system.
Automatic suppression systems would usually be found in large
commercial kitchens or other high-risk area. Fire sprinkler systems in other
hand are installed in all types of buildings, commercial and residential.
They are usually located at ceiling level and are connected to a reliable
water source, most commonly city water. A typical sprinkler system
operates when heat at the site of a fire causes a glass component in the
sprinkler head to fail, thereby releasing the water from the sprinkler head.
This means that only the sprinkler head at the fire location operate – not all
the sprinklers on a floor in a building. Sprinkler systems help to reduce the
growth of a fire, thereby increasing life safety and limiting structural
damage. The fire detection is the third category. The fire is detected either
by locating the smoke, flame or heat and an alarm is sounded to enable
emergency evacuation as well as to dispatch the local fire department. An
introduction to fire detection and suppression can be found here. Where
detection system is activated, it can be programmed to carry out other
actions. These include de-energising magnetic hold open devices on Fire
8

9. doors and opening servo-actuated vents in stairways.
Mrs.M : Does the Fire Department helps to understand the system or give
permission to setup the system?
Mr. ….. : You are correct. All the Active Fire Protection systems are required to be
installed and maintained in accordance with strict guidelines in order to
maintain compliance with the local building code and the fire code. We
need the permission from the Fire Department to do the setting in the
building.
Mrs.M : How is the situation when the Fire Department does not give their
permission?
Mr. ….. : We must look for the major problem in the system or to follow the code
stated by them. Sometimes, we need to set the whole system again.
Mrs.M : What is the purpose of the fire alarm system?
Mr. ….. : The fire alarm system is designed to detect the unwanted presence of fire
by monitoring environmental associated with combustion. In general, a fire
alarm system is classified as either automatically actuated, manually
actuated, or both. Automatic fire alarm systems are intended to notify the
building occupants to evacuate in the event of a fire or other emergency,
report the event to an off-premises location in order to summon emergency
services and to prepare the structure and associated systems to control the
spread of fire and smoke.
Mrs M : Actually how does this system work?
Mr. ….. : A fire alarm systems alerts property owners in the event of a fire. There are
a number of ways in which a fire alarm system works, depending on the
type of device installed. Some systems involve smoke detection or heat
detection and both sound an alarm as a result of sensor. No matter what,
the purpose of any alarm system is to make occupants aware of possible
fires and enable them to get out of harm’s way. Usually, if you smell
smoke, a fire is sure to follow and smoke detectors can be important part of
any fire alarm systems. Smoke detectors contain two kinds of sensors:
optical and ionization. These sensors or detectors work in different ways.
With an optical detector, light sensors are used to monitor smoke as it
moves through the optical detector. This smoke adjusts and disperses light
in such a way that it activates the alarm. On the other hand, when smokes
9

10. invade the area with an ionization detector, this causes air ionization to
weaken, therefore sounding the alarm. Another way a fire alarm system
works is through the heat sensor. Basically, if there is a sudden change in
temperature, this could be a sign of fire. This change can spark the fire
alarm.
Mrs.M : What are the components of a Fire Alarm System?
Mr. ….. : As with any fire alarm system, there has to be a control panel. This is the
central point of the system. In addition, a keypad is another major part of a
fire alarm system. The pad is usually found near the front door and allows
you to turn the alarm system on and off when needed. Furthermore, in
some systems when the alarm goes off, in a building for example, there is
an indicator or device that alerts building occupants with flashing lights,
bells, horns and more.
Mrs. M : Can you name me some of the buildings that had been set by the Fire
Alarm system by your company?
Mr. ….. : I can name you some of the buildings. Among them are Labuan
International Airport, Utusan Melayu Bangi, Maybank Tower Kuala
Lumpur, Department of Education Technology (BTP) Kuala Lumpur,
Tuanku Abdul Rahman Memorial Kuala Lumpur, National Archive Kuala
Lumpur, Multimedia University, Malacca, UiTM Manjung, Perak.
Seberang Jaya KWSP Building, New Straits Times Bayan Lepas, Penang,
Specialist Hospital, Sungai Petani, Kedah, University Science Malaysia
Hospital, Kubang Kerian, Kelantan, Terengganu State Museum, Kuala
Terengganu, Sultan Ismail Airport, Kelantan, Sultan Mahmud International
Airport, Kuala Terengganu, Subang International Airport, Selangor, Bank
Rakyat Tower Kuala Lumpur, SUK Selangor Building, Shah Alam and
many more.
Mrs M : Are there any rules and regulations before we start to set the system?
Mr. ….. : Yes there are some rules and regulations before we start to set the system.
Some of them are we need to follow the codes. Before that, we also need to
follow the rules set by the Fire Department BS5306 : Part 2- Code of
Practice for Sprinkle Systems, Loss Prevention Council, NFPA that is
National Fire Protection Association and Factory Mutual.
Mrs. M : Actually your job is also about the contribution to the society?
Mr. ….. : Yes, but they did not realize that. I and also people in this field is working
10

11. for the society to protect them from the fire and be one of the victim in that
catastrophe. It is all in God hands. The early prevention is very important
so that they will be aware and prepare before anything bad happen.
Mrs.M : What are the characteristics needs for someone if he interested to getting
involved in this kind of job?
Mr. ….. : The characteristics for those interested to get along with this job are they
need to be responsible, patient, energetic, fit both in mental and physical
because this job needs a lot of moving. This job also needs us to think more
on problem solving, high disciplined, determination, good communication
skill, fast moving, can solve many problems regarding the system, good in
time management and need to be ready for 24 hours.
Mrs M : How about the weekend or public holiday? Do you also need to work?
Mr. …… Definitely yes. If there are any emergency cases, they will call me to check
and maintain the system. In other hands, if the cases are not so important,
they can make appointment with me and I will check for it later. I will
instruct the charge man to stop the system for a while to further action.
These cases are quite rare because I will give training to the charge man
first after finish setting all the system. The charge man will give the
training to his staff later.
Mrs. M : What are the obstacles during your job?
Mr. ….. What a tough question. I try to answer it. Actually, when the system had
been setup with the Smoke Detector, the occupants in the building are also
not allowed to smoke the cigarettes. Nevertheless, some of them are quite
stubborn and continue smoking the cigarettes even though there are signs
everywhere put by the owner of the building. When this system detect the
smoke according to certain level, the siren will automatically sounding and
it is hard to stop it except by the expert. This is the fake signal. The siren
will keep on sounding until it stops by the expert. Other occupants in the
building will feel irritating and disturbing with the sound. In other hand, it
shows that this system is in good function and ready when the real fire
occurs next time.
Mrs. M : Are you really satisfied with your contribution to the society?
Mr. ….. : I am really satisfied with what I contributed to the society. Even though my
responsibility is quite hard, but when we can protect the community
according to our ability, it gives me the one hundred percent satisfaction. I
11

12. admit that I am quite tired with this job but I really like it very much and it
lies in my soul. I also need to be alert and aware when having the dealing
with the society. I want everybody satisfy and get benefit from my work.
Mrs. M : In this moment, are you having any joint-venture or link to other company?
Mr. …. : I only have connection according to the period of contract and also
agreement with them during the signing of the memorandum of
understanding whether a year, two years or any period. They are different
according to the agreement.
Mrs M : Do you have any staff or people that help you with this job?
Mr. ….. : Yes there are. When I started this company I must need some workers. For
this time being I only have five workers. Together they will work with me
or I will divide them into group if we have more than one project to be
settled up. They usually work outdoor.
Mrs M : What is your principle in work?
Mr. ….. : My principle is giving hundred percent commitments to my work and my
best to my client. I always honest with them. Responsible and also making
the good connection with them. Customers are always right and they give
me freedom to make my work. I really appreciate their faith on me.
Mrs. M : Do you have any plan for the future regarding your job?
Mr. ….. : Yes I already planned my future. I really like to have a farm with goats,
cows or deer. I hope I can fulfill it before I getting old. The small farm will
be good for me. In shaa Allah, I am trying my very best to fulfill my dream
Mrs M : When will it happen?
Mr. ….. : For this time I almost fulfill my dream. I and my best friend are preparing a
deer farm. We want to rear a deer as our first planning before we move to
another big project in the future. This is only a beginning and the first
move.
Mrs. M : That means you will quit your job and concentrate more on the farm?
Mr. …. : I not yet think about it for this moment. I currently do it as my hobby and
also as a side income. Maybe it is true if I do not have any strength to work
anymore I will stop. It is all about my health, age and family. I really don’t
know about it yet because I really love my job very much.
Mrs. M : Thank you so much for this interview Mr. ….. .I hope that all your work
and idea will be more success next time. I really appreciate your time
12

13. answering my question. Thank you so much again.
Mr. …. :
4.0
PICTURE
You are welcome.
MR…….. STANDING NEAR HYDRANT PIPE & HYDRANT
HOSE.
13

14. MR …… ARE HOLDING HOSE REEL PIPE .
MR. ………. ALSO MAINTAIN SPRINKLER PIPE AND MASTER ALARM
GONG .
14
SORRY YA
PAK…hehehe…

15. MR. ………. AND SECURITY GUARD
( CONTROL ROOM ,UTUSAN MELAYU,BANGI )
MR………. WITH FIRE EXTINGUISHER .
15

16. MR…….. RESPONSIBLE TO ENSURE THAT CONTROLLER MASTER
ALARM PANEL CAN WORKS WELL .
5.0 BIBLIOGRAPHY
Web
http://www.scribd.com/doc/49226304/PENCEGAHAN KEBAKARAN
21 May 2011
http://www.firefighter.com.my/t1/index.php
21 May 2011
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/fire_alarm_system
24 May 2011
http://mka-technology.blogspot.com/2009/02/blog-post.html
30 May 2011
16