By Dr Ahmad Ibrahim & Hazimin Sulaiman

It was 11.30 am when I arrived at the parliament building. The assignment was to interview the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI), YB Datuk Dr Maximus J Ongkili, or Datuk Max as he is fondly known. The interview is meant for the July, 2008 issue of Technology Park Malaysia Corporation’s Symbiosis magazine. After getting the necessary pass to proceed to the lobby, I was informed through the SMS that the interview, earlier scheduled for 12pm, had to be pushed forward to 1 or 1.30 pm. This was to make way for the Mid Term Review presentation by the YAB Prime Minister. What a pleasant coincidence I thought. I viewed this development as an opportunity for me to put in additional questions for the Minister, taking the cue from issues that would be raised in the briefing by the PM.

MOSTI AND THE MID-TERM REVIEW

As expected, the PM’s presentation touched a lot on the current global economic difficulties. Especially on how they will inadvertently impact on Malaysia’s economy in the coming years. The high crude oil price, which incidentally is still rising, took centre stage in the arguments for change put forward by the PM.There was no hiding the fact that unless we act fast to restrategise the country’s economic pursuit, the repercussions can be disasterous. For example, how can the nation maintain its fiscal deficit at 3.2% in the face of potentially increasing subsidies for fuel and others. This was clearly the reason behind the government’s recent decision to reduce the subsidy on fuel, albeit an unpopular one. Many believe, over time, the people will appreciate the rationale behind such a move. The clear message from the PM was that Malaysia has to explore new growth sectors if it is to sustain growth at levels higher than what they are now. These are sectors which would offer added value to the economy. And such sectors are by nature also prominently knowledge-based and innovation-driven. The bottomline to the whole argument is that mastering technology and innovation is key to developing the new growth sectors for Malaysia. The extra RM30 billion boost under the Mid-Term would come in handy under the circumstances.

Listening to the strategies outlined in the Mid-Term Review, I could not help but came to the conclusion that MOSTI is destined to be a critical player in the new growth sectors. The interview with the Minister could not come at a better time. After some photo shoot of the Minister which we plan to use for the cover of the new issue of Symbiosis, we finally came face to face with the Minister in MOSTI’s room at the parliament building. With senior management of TPM Corp in attendance, including the CEO Dato’ Mohd Azman himself, everyone was looking forward to hear what the Minister had to say about some of the pressing issues concerning the country’s S&T and innovation agenda. We came with questions related to the need to improve the country’s record in R&D commercialisation, the issue surrounding the lack of R&D funding by industry, how to get industry and academia to talk more, the difficulties faced by technology entrepreneurs in securing high risk venture funding for their projects, Malaysia’s biotechnology agenda to create wealth for the country and other issues concerning the overall planning of the country’s R&D pursuit.

THE RIGHT CREDENTIALS TO ANCHOR MOSTI

I must say we were not disappointed. From the interview, all of us without exception came away highly impressed with the line of arguments presented by the Minister. He was fully aware of the issues. In fact he spoke with ease, off the cuff, on all the issues. This was no surprise though because as evident from the Minister’s past career involvement, he was no stranger to issues related to S&T. YB Datuk Dr Maximus J Ongkili, who is currently the Deputy President of Sabah United Party, has all the credentials to anchor the country’s Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry (MOSTI). Born on 26 October 1953, he came to MOSTI not only with an illustrious academic background, but also a colourful political career to match. With a PhD in agricultural economics from Australia’s La Trobe University, Datuk Ongkili had a stint with research not only while serving as a lecturer at UPM but also while holding senior research positions at ISIS and Sabah Institute for Development Studies (IDS). He also did fellowship programmes at the United Nations University, Tokyo as well as at the Harvard Institute for International Development in Boston. He started his political career in 1994, when he contested and won on a PBS ticket in the then Langkon seat in Sabah. In 1995, he won the Bandau parliamentary seat which he again retained in 1999. In 2004, he was appointed as a Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department with a specific role in promoting National Unity and Integration. At one time he was also Science and Technology Advisor to the Chief Minister of Sabah. He became Malaysia’s Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) after the recently concluded election of March 2008.

THE HUMAN FACE OF S&T

We actually planned to get the Minister to respond according to the order of the questions we earlier prepared. But this was not to be. He was so full of enthusiasm wanting to share his thoughts on the issues that we unconsciously allowed the interview to proceed as more a discussion rather than one structured around formal questioning. It was clear from the beginning that the Minister is passionate about S&T delivering value not only to the business and industry community but more so to the lower rungs of society. He wants S&T to have the human face. He wants it to reach out to the communities, solving their problems and improving their quality of life. According to him “ It would be a sad day for S&T if it is only to cater to the elite. Instead we should expand the involvement of the man on the street towards innovation. Ideas on innovation need not just originate from scientists. They can also come from ordinary people”. The Minister was full of praise for TPM’s project in Raub where entrepreneurs share expensive facilities provided by the government to convert traditional herbal products into more marketable forms with all the attractively designed packaging. He would like to duplicate such facilities in Sabah where there is potential to help local herbal products reach out to the larger market.

PURSUING INNOVATION BY THE PEOPLE FOR THE PEOPLE

“Malaysians in the country are not short of innovation ideas. A lot of ideas go undocumented including those already invented, except in the case of those who have resources. We have past the stage to say that technology is important to farmers. The questions are: where can I know more? How much does it cost?” In this regard, he spoke of a plan to establish the National Innovation Foundation within the next 2 months, most likely in August, where by private sector corporations will contribute through their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) commitment. The fund will help promote innovation not only among the society at large but also among school children. “We need to effectively harness the indigenous technologies of the local communities especially in the area of tradional medicine and other cottage industry. For example can we help them create e-portals to better market their products. ICT Companies including multinationals like Microsoft can support such projects as part of their CSR programme”. He spoke about a project by a woman group in Sabah making the traditional “atap nipah” and how selling them on the internet will help expand their business. “In fact we can create an Information Centre for Village Technologies (Pusat Teknologi Maklumat Desa) where local people can access. For example, information on the compost making technology will help farmers produce cheaper fertilisers for their crops. This is what I call the human face of S&T. It should benefit all.”

When asked about MOSTI’s recently launched innovation model, YB Minister spoke about the impending meeting of the National Innovation Council planned for October. He expected the meeting which will be chaired by the PM himself will roll out the roadmaps for the clusters already identified including ICT, Biotechnology, and Sea to Space just to name a few. “The roadmaps will be tabled complete with all the milestones. This will facilitate the process of monitoring and evaluation of the programmes and projects identified. The final details will be ironed out soon, ready for tabling at the meeting in October.”

ALTERNATIVES TO FOSSILS, A GROWING NECESSITY

The global fuel crisis has not escaped MOSTI’s radar screen when it comes to deciding on priorities. The Minister deliberated at great length on the renewable energy agenda. “Generating energy from biomass is a potential that we need to work on. The obvious candidate is of course biomass from palm oil. On my recent visit to attend the Biotechnology Conference in San Diego, USA, I was attracted to a technology which can convert oil palm biomass into fuel through some enzymatic digestion. This has potential to be a “platinum project”. However, I was told that our Biosafety Law may prohibit the deployment of such technologies. I need to discuss with the Biotechnology Corporation on how we can facilitate this. I am also looking at other potential source of biomass. In Sabah, coconut farming has thrived in some parts of the state. There is no reason why we cannot expand this industry through better farming techniques. And it is common knowledge that the coconut is also a good source of biomass for energy.We will engage the Ministry of Agriculture to provide support here”.

He spoke about a task force on alternative energy being formalised in MOSTI to develop plans for the necessary R&D and eventual commercial development. “With the rise in crude oil price still showing no sign of a bating and the growing concern over global warming and climate change, even taboo technologies such as nuclear are beginning to look attractive. We should not completely discount nuclear as a potential energy source.” The other possible sources the Minister spoke about included cultivating algae for energy as well as solar photovoltaics. The Minister shared with us his idea about building a showcase of all the energy options at Technology Park Malaysia in Bukit Jalil, where business investors and scientists can view and discuss collaboration opportunities. This will come under the purview of TPM’s recently established Centre for Technology Commercialisation (CTC) which the Minister agreed should be the avenue for greater interaction between industry and academia.

Talking about increasing the involvement of the private sector in the country’s R&D pursuit, the Minister cited highly successful models in other countries such as Korea, Taiwan and Australia. “In Australia, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) has initiated programmes where they have established R&D laboratories at industry premises. Why can’t SIRIM or MIMOS have similar programmes here?” the Minister lamented.

MORE HIGH RISK FUNDING NEEDED

The Minister fully agreed with the need to create more accessibility to high risk venture funding to help realise a higher rate of R&D commercialisation in the country. “May be the criteria used to evaluate technology start-ups need to change. They need to accomodate the fact that unlike traditional business, the strength of technology start-ups lies in their intangible intellectual capital. We may need to create some agreed standard way of measuring such intangible assets. Only then can better investment decisions be made. We need to brainstorm on this to develop some reliable way to give value to such intangibles.” He further commented “In Silicon Valley, loans are written off when a venture fails. How many are willing to do that?”

CRITICAL ROLE FORMOSTI IN THE NEW ECONOMY

The Minister concluded the interview emphasising the role that MOSTI will have to play in helping Malaysia take the big leap to compete in the global innovation economy. “If we are to achieve the kind of growth that will take the country towards the targets set for Vision 2020, it will have to be more from higher value technology intensive sectors. It will not be sufficient to depend only on our commodity-driven economy. We need to innovate in order to add value to such resources. And of course we also need to ensure that whatever wealth that is generated should never ignore the fact that it should benefit the greater community. We must always strive to preserve the human face of S&T. Only then can we take pride in the fact that we truly serve the whole nation.”