Need for critical mass of scientific talent

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia needs a critical mass of scientific human capital to make its investment in R&D and technological innovation successful, says former prime minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

“We can see evidence of this in Taiwan, South Korea, Japan and some Scandinavian countries.

“These countries have attained enviable progress not because they are flushed with valuable natural resources but because they have invested heavily in quality human talent. Even in Malaysia, where we now owe a great deal to our earlier investment in quality education, we should never assume that whatever quality human capital we build will forever remain with us,” he said.

Abdullah was speaking here on Saturday night at the Conferment of Fellowship of the Academy of Sciences Malaysia (ASM), where 27 active research scientists from local institutions and research institutes were named Top Research Scientists of Malaysia (TRSM) for 2012.

Also appointed were 24 new ASM Fellows while three Fellows were honoured as senior Fellows, carrying the title “Academician”.

Abdullah, who is ASM Honourary Fellow, said the TRSM group signalled the beginning of a database of the country’s scientific workplace that have met the criteria of R&D excellence. — Bernama