The National Grid was one of the plans in full motion. Committed to long term programme of growth and expansion backed by plans carefully crafted and laid down in the period of CEB, NEB is now firmly led by a Malaysian as the CEO. On 22 June 1965, Central Electricity Board (CEB) of the Federation of Malaya was renamed as the National Electricity Board of the States of Malaya (NEB). In Selangor, the precursor of the National Grid was slowly taking shape, and the Bangsar Power Station was connected to the Connaught Bridge Power Station, with the line subsequently extended to Malacca. Soon, The Connaught Bridge Power Station became fully operational and the first phase of the Cameron Highland Hydroelectric Project was close to completion. Sharples retired, and Raja Zainal bin Raja Sulaiman became the first Malaysian appointed to the post. In 1964, the second expatriate General Manager of CEB, J.
SINGLES DAY DATO PROFESSIONAL
From 1954 to 1957, more Malaysians were sent overseas to acquire professional qualifications relevant to the Board’s needs. Hence, in 1951, three local Shift Engineers – Abu Zarim bin Haji Omar, Tengku Daud bin Tengku Besar Burhanuddin and Tengku Yaacob Shah left for training in the British Electrical Authority, United Kingdom. In order to materialize the success of Malayanisation, more local engineers and technocrats were needed in this demanding field to replace expatriates in the Board. This significant day was also the beginning of Malayanisation. On the glorious day of 31 August 1957, Allahyarham Tunku Abdul Rahman declared the Independence of Malaya (now known as Malaysia) the word “Merdeka” was proudly pronounced seven times at the Stadium Merdeka, and the nation rejoiced.
For this, we sincerely thank the government for recognizing the central role of the power industry in developing the nation’s economy and social growth. The age of private generators has come to an end, and all walks of life continue to enjoy fair share of electricity.
As the rapid increase in electricity demands continued to manifest large scale planning, huge sums of capital from overseas and hiring of foreign technical experts became essential. Until the mid nineteen twenties, most generating plants were small and used a variety of fuel including low grade coal, local wood, charcoal and important oil as well as water power. In 1900, the Sempam Hydroelectric Power Station in Raub, built by the Raub Australian Gold Mining Company became the first power station in Malaysia. In the same year, private supply for street lighting purposes was extended to Rawang town, and in 1895 the railway stations in Kuala Lumpur received its first electricity supply.
SINGLES DAY DATO GENERATOR
Here, two enterprising individuals Loke Yew and Thamboosamy Pillai installed an electric generator in 1894 to operate their mines they were the first to use electric pumps for mining in Malaya, and marked the great beginning of the story of electricity in Malaysia. Electricity first made its appearance in this country at the turn of the 20th century, and the earliest record of power generation can be traced back to a small mining town in Rawang, Selangor.