Nation Building

Seminar on Thinking

Addressed by Tan Sri Lim at a Seminar on Thinking Organised by the International Islamic University
29 August 2005

The topic is on innovative thinking. But let me start by sharing some interesting facts that puts in perspective a global scenario using innovation as the basis for comparison.

Consider the fact that 6 billion people share this planet.

• Half of that – three billion people – live in crippling poverty.
• 1.3 billion live on less than a meal a day.
• 1.3 billion have no access to clean water.
• 2 billion have no access to electricity.
• 3 billion have no access to sanitation.
• 4 billion have never heard a telephone dial tone.
• One billion are illiterate. Unable to read or write even their own names.
• Hunger kills 30,000 children a day, everyday.
• Now consider the other side of the story.
• 0.1% of the world′s population controlled 25% of the world′s assets in 2004.
• 100 of the world′s best selling brands earned more than the combined GDP of 100 of the world′s poorest nations.
• The richest 50 million people in Europe and North America have the combined income of 3 billion poor people living in the Third World.
• 50 poor countries grew poorer over the past 10 years.

In 1960, richest 20% had 30 times the income of the poorest 20%. By 1997, it had increased to 74 times.

Innovation gap divides the rich from poor countries.

This is a very huge divide between people.

It′s a divide between haves and have nots.

It′s a divide between countries with the capacity to innovate and those without.

Innovation is at the root of this divide.

If you like, the world is essentially divided into countries that innovate and progress and those that don′t.

My topic today is about innovative thinking. I think I have painted a very clear picture of what happens when countries don′t engage in innovative thinking.

Innovative thinking is really about innovation. Innovation in simple terms is about moving forward. It′s about progress, evolution and transformation as a result of discoveries and inventions that cut through traditional ways of doing things or perceiving things.

It′s about making changes that make things better.

History will show us that mankind has progressed over millennia because of innovation.

Ancient man moved forward first through the invention of tools. Millions of years later discovery of fire moved man in another direction. Millions of years went by before mastery of agriculture again provided another burst of growth. Much later industrial transformation overtook agriculture and today the computer revolution keeps changing us and soon biotechnology will completely transform our future.

To be sure, innovation can only take place in places where there is encouragement for new ideas.

It becomes part of the country′s culture and is woven into its educational system, its industrial infrastructure and its political leadership.

It is therefore natural for these countries to lead the world. It is also natural for these countries to attract the best talents, the best brains and so the innovation lead continues and the divide deepens between the rich and the poor of this world.

On the other hand, countries that still hold to traditional and obsolete methods of governance will eventually be “taken over” by these highly competitive countries through economic power play or straightforward domination.

This means that countries with the right conditions stand a better chance of moving ahead through innovation than those countries that do not.

The right conditions is the key word here. Without the right conditions the most talented and most creative brains will migrate to places where they are able to do their best work.

Based on various reports, our overall competitiveness has been declining in spite of increasing investment and effort on the part of our Government to shore up innovation has been increasing and intensifying.

Our innovation ranking is low. Our patent and intellectual property ownership inside the country is very low. Our patent ownership last year stood at less than 3%. Outside the country, Malaysian patent ownership is practically non-existent.

We are simply not innovating.

Unlike advancing Asian economies like South Korea, Taiwan, China and Singapore, Malaysia is not registered on the global innovation map at all. That means we have created virtually no innovation for the world market.

Ten years after our former Prime Minister started his unrelenting drive for innovation, we are still described by international observers as merely “fast follower” which really means we are just consumers and not producers of innovation.

So what is missing here? Are we not capable of thinking creatively? Or are we not thinking about it at all?

As a nation, we all know we must become more innovative. Our industry, our society, our whole country, must embrace innovation as the way forward. And this has been clearly acknowledged.

This objective is well articulated in the 8th Malaysia Plan, in OPP3 and the Master plan for k-economy.

So it has been in our planning for some time.

But why are we holding back?

The most advanced nations are also the world′s most inventive, most innovative. They also are the world′s wealthiest and most powerful.

Without exception, all have well developed creative industries which provide effective on-going R&D support to their industries.

Without exception, all consider creativity and innovation a strategic driver of national competitiveness.

Without exception, all these countries are driven by highly sophisticated innovation.

Without exception, the Government of these countries have built economic and social infrastructures that encourage and promote creativity and innovation.

For us to move forward, pervasive innovative thinking must take hold throughout our society, and right through our Government and management machinery.

As I see it, to make this happen, we need to bring about a major shift in the mindset of our people – starting from children to parents, from teachers to Government leaders, from farmers to corporate leaders.

It may have to start with the redesigning of the Malaysian mind, which has remained largely conservative.

It is often said that being inventive or being innovative is not part of the Malaysian culture.

It is said that the Asian tradition of subservience and conformity is incompatible with the culture of creative thinking, which often is about changing.

It is also said that as people who adhere strictly to religious teaching, thinking creatively goes against the grain.

It is said that, as Asians, we have a cultural inclination to blend in and not be heard or seen.

Sure, we can think of a hundred reasons why we must not think.

Now could this be our problem – not wanting to think? Let′s all think about it.

Let′s now think about this.

The Muslim world gave us something we continue to use to this day – soap – because of the religion′s emphasis on hygiene.

Soap was manufactured in the Middle East for centuries before the West knew about it.

Muslims invented algebra and worked out the angle of the tilt of the earth. They built the first windmill, pioneered the concept of the crank rod and designed the first ever torpedo.

Muslim creativity also led to numerous other inventions that are still in use today, hundreds and thousands of years later.

Their pursuit of knowledge led them to build the world′s largest libraries which they simply called "houses of wisdom".

From Egypt came the mysterious Pyramids, that until today baffle scientists and engineers – a feat that cannot even be copied today. The Egyptians also built the first dam.

On a lighter note, they also gave us the hair wig, and make–up. They really wanted their woman to look pretty.

Because fishing was such a big hobby, they invented the folding stool to sit on while waiting for the fish to bite.

The Chinese invented paper around the year 105.

Gutenberg is officially credited with inventing the printing press in the 1440′s/ But the Chinese created a type of printing press long before that – around 200 B.C. By 1000 A.D., the Chinese had introduced books to replace scrolls – a good 450 years ahead of Gutenberg.

Last year, when Tsunami hit, we all learned of its power based on the Richter scale, which was invented in 1935. But in the 132 A.D., the Chinese developed the first earthquake sensor, 600 years ahead of the first western sensor from France.

As you know, the Chinese also invented the suspension bridge, gun powder and the first steam propelled cart hundreds of years before the first steam-propelled engine car was built in the West.

And well before Texas Instruments, China had developed the first calculator, the abacus.

The Indians were weaving cotton and wearing comfortable cotton attires 3,500 years before the West got to know about it. The Indians invented the spinning wheel of course – something the Europeans did not catch up with until the Middle Ages.

The world′s first planned cities were found in India. Every house had its own bathroom and toilet 5,000 years ago!

This list goes on.

The East and the Middle East were centres of ancient inventions; they were leaders of innovative thinking and inventive creativity for a thousand years.

So all these reasons for being Asian and therefore not thinking can only come from people who do not do much thinking at all.

Whether we like it or not, today, it′s all about the power of thinking, the power of creativity. Last decade was all about technology.

Innovative thinking has no boundaries, and it respects no borders.

It can bridge the digital divide as much as it can level the globalization playing field.

It can come from the slums of Africa, or from the most sophisticated labs in America. It certainly can come from Malaysia.

So what is holding us back?

Going forward, we need our people to think and live outside of the box, people who are prepared to challenge the norm and rearrange the rules if the rules have become stumbling blocks.

To be able to build this innovative human capital, we must empower a system of education that is driven by the motivation to learn, and the reward for accomplishment.

The learning environment therefore must be one that is inspiring and not stifling.

We must develop a culture in our education system that recognises and celebrated creativity, and promote a culture in our teaching system that promoted innovative thinking.

In advanced countries, school children learn about design technology from year one and move on to innovation a few years later.

The moment you get into design technology, you are already into the process of ideation; you learn about the purpose of differentiation and innovation. Thinking creatively becomes a habit.

We need to develop a system of training that motivates and inspires the young generation to be people who want to achieve greatness. Being good is not good enough in today′s environment.

Rules and regulations that force people to concentrate on not making mistakes will lead to conformity and blind compliance; that stifles creativity and inhabits innovative thinking.

Rules and regulations that attempt to impose a one-size-fits-all structure will hamper the efforts of institutions of higher learning to become innovative, and to be truly competitive.

Rules and regulations that do not promote innovation should be changed and removed.

Innovative thinking is about changing for the better. It′s about breaking the norm, and seeking better and more practical solutions and options.

If we keep doing the same thing over long periods of time, we will be, as a country, out of step, of sync, out of touch and out of the loop with what′s happening around us.

In business, to be sure, innovation must be industry-led and driven. This is because industry knows what the market wants, and how to drive the market to open up new avenues.

But, to be certain, the process of innovative development must also involve the approval systems. Government agencies should work hand-in-hand with the private sector to enable industry to operate at its competitive best.

Everyone involved must understand the competitive nature of today′s environment, and the speed at which the private sector must move in order to remain in competition.

Everyone should know that if our private sector loses an internal battle, it is the country that loses the battle.

Our administration itself must embrace the concept of innovation.

Let me take a minute here to give you an illustration where only innovative thinking and innovation can bring about a transformation.

Malaysia has the potential as well as the credentials to be a major halal food production hub, and we already have most of the ingredients to succeed.

Last year, we hosted the largest halal trade expo ever organized in the world.

Malaysia has the longest established and most widely recognized halal certification in the world.

Malaysia trades with practically every country on earth.

Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world, both by birth and adoption. It is estimated that by 2010, the Muslim population will double to exceed 3 billion spread across the world.

If we were to achieve a 10 percent share of the global halal food market, it will bring in 200 billion ringgit in revenue. That is almost 50% of Malaysia′s current GDP.

That achievement alone will change forever the ethnic balance of economic ownership in this country.

However, to arrive at that achievement, we must first move our rural economy into a 21st century environment; and that means to effectively transform Malaysia′s rural industry into one that is modern and innovative.

The rural economy runs on knowledge and skills that are hundred of years old. Adding new knowledge and new skills of the modern era will, undoubtedly, transform the sector to perform more vibrantly and commercially.

What is needed is a cohesive enabling platform designed to bring about effective modernization; a platform that will empower rural-based enterprise with new knowledge and new know-how, and enable them with new technology and new machinery. What is needed is innovation.

This transformational process will bridge the innovation gap that now exists between the rural and the urban sectors, and it does not need a lot of time if well-designed enabling drivers are put in place to ensure end–to–end delivery.

I think seminars such as this will contribute well to the thinking that must now be put in place.

We must now focus on creating a more vibrant and productive innovation system that will pull together all our resources, our talent pool, our cultural diversity and creativity.

We must now build for this nation a big passion for innovation.

We must now make the leap forward to become an innovative nation.

The time to push forward is now, and time is not really on our side.

Unless we get really serious about cultivating creativity and promoting innovation, the transformation to a knowledge-based economy will not readily happen. And unless that transformation happens, our competitiveness will erode.