SHAH ALAM: Malaysia must stop being a perpetual user of technology created by others and become a nation that creates its own, says Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
He said the country was at a critical point in its development and could no longer depend on technology built elsewhere.
"We cannot forever be users of technology created by others. We must become a nation that creates, owns and masters technology," he said in his speech at the grand final of the National Science Challenge 2026 here on Monday (Sept 7).
Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Chang Lih Kang delivered his speech.
The final, for the Prime Minister’s Challenge Trophy, was held at the National Institutes of Health in Setia Alam.
Anwar said the challenges facing the country were not abstract, and listed food security, energy supply, public health, water security, climate change and the responsible use of artificial intelligence among them.
He said they demanded strong knowledge and the courage to make evidence-based decisions.
Science education, he added, could not stop at memorising formulas and scoring in examinations.
"Science must shape the way we think, help us be critical towards facts, make us open to ideas, brave enough to try and honest when an attempt does not succeed," he said.
The event carried the theme "Strengthening Science Foundations for a Resilient and Inclusive Future."
Anwar said enrolment of students in STEM had risen from 40.95% in 2021 to 50.83% in 2024, citing Education Ministry data.
He described this as a positive development but said participation in pure science remained at about 15.8%.
This showed a gap between interest in STEM and readiness to pursue it in depth, he said.
The task was not merely to encourage more pupils to choose STEM but to ensure they remained in it and succeeded, he added.
He said teachers played a large role, describing them as not just people who delivered knowledge but those who sparked curiosity and built the confidence of the young.
Anwar said he wanted the Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry and the Academy of Sciences Malaysia, together with the Education Ministry and strategic partners, to turn the event into a continuous talent development pathway rather than an annual affair that ends once the trophy is handed out.
Pupils with potential, especially those from rural areas, Sabah and Sarawak and low-income families, needed to stay connected to mentors, laboratories, scholarships and innovation networks, he said.
In the spirit of Malaysia Madani, Anwar said scientific and technological progress had to move together with humane values.
"Science without compassion can be cold, innovation without integrity can be dangerous, and knowledge without courage will only remain in reports," he said.
He told participants not to fear failure, saying that in science, failure was part of the process of finding answers.
"Do not be afraid to fail. Be afraid if we stop trying," he said.
He said some of them might become scientists, doctors, engineers, researchers, teachers, or technology entrepreneurs, or even leaders in fields that did not exist yet.
"Stop being heirs to the future who merely await fate.
"Instead, be the ones who shape the destiny of Malaysia’s future with the power of knowledge, firmness, courage and the beauty of values," he added.
