by DR. FRANCIS LOH
Local newspapers seemingly focus on every other area except for science. Do we not have men of science in Malaysia?
In early February 2012, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who is also Education Minister, expressed dismay over the declining interest in science and mathematics among secondary school students.
A month earlier, Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khalid Nordin similarly expressed concern about the declining interest in the sciences at the tertiary level which could “hamper government efforts to improve technological innovations that would make Malaysia a high-income country.”
Upgrading from a medium-income to a high-income country underscores the New Economic Model that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has proposed. Accordingly, the Deputy PM has directed the Education director-general to set up a special committee to study the problem and to recommend ways to achieve the target of having 60 per cent of the students in the science stream and 40 per cent in the arts stream.
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Open your newspaper now. Is there any mention of science or of scientists in Malaysia?
The front pages of all newspapers are full of news, sometimes very irritating news, about the politicians. Even the racist and allegedly corrupt ones get a lot of publicity. Why?
The back pages then highlight our sports people. Some like Nicol David and Lee Chong Wei get the publicity they deserve. Yes, the divers, bowlers, gymnasts, cyclists should get featured too. But most are at best “jaguh kampung”. Why?
When we peruse the middle sections, we read about those in the entertainment industry — the singers, the film stars, the musicians, etc. Often the news is not even about their achievements but the scandals that engulf them. Ever so often the newspapers may feature a writer, an artist, an indie filmmaker deservedly.
Then we have the business pages. On and on, those promoted and demoted as a result of mergers and takeovers are featured. There are pages upon pages of opinions from the captains of industry and finance not only about how their particular sector of the economy is doing, but about how they think the national economy is performing, and even about “what makes them tick.” No wonder every other young Malaysian wants to go into business — big, medium or small.
Unscientific Malaysia for more