KUCHING – Even though it is laudable of Putrajaya to give the Education Ministry the biggest budget allocation for 2022, a biotech activist has observed specifically that the Science, Technology, and Innovation Ministry (Mosti) had received a miniscule amount in comparison.
Speaking to The Vibes, Dr Mahaletchumy Arujanan said that despite the fact that Putrajaya had drafted the National Biotechnology Policy 2.0 and National Vaccine Development Roadmap recently, Budget 2022 did not mention any allocation for the two.
“Both of these require huge investments but Budget 2022 did not mention any allocation for them.
“Prior to the tabling of Budget 2022 last Friday, I had wished science, technology, and innovation, and agriculture were emphasised as individual strategies in the budget to reflect what we learnt from the aftermath of the pandemic,” said Mahaletchumy.
During the tabling of Budget 2022 in Parliament, Finance Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz announced that Mosti and the Higher Education Ministry (MoHE) had been allocated RM423 million to focus and intensify efforts in research.
In comparison, the Education Ministry received RM52.6 billion, while the Health Ministry had received RM32.4 billion, roughly 124 and 76 times higher, respectively, than what Mosti and MoHE received.
The Malaysian Biotechnology Information Centre’s executive director pointed out that the nation’s food security, agricultural innovation, drug development, and genetic tools were some of the “big voids” that Malaysia experienced during the pandemic.
She added that these aspects are not just relevant to a health crisis but to a number of sustainable development goals and in making Malaysia future-proof.
Furthermore, she said that she wished more focus was given to strengthen research and development that can be applied to all sectors and industries.
Mahaletchumy also took note that the issues affecting doctors have not been fully addressed.
“Only some superficial band-aid work has been done to solve a problem with a very shaky foundation.
“While we want more students to pursue science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), our junior doctors are in limbo with little room to pursue specialisation. This will demotivate students to pursue STEM.
“Only less than 30% of junior doctors have the opportunity to specialise. How will they be chosen among the 10,000 contract doctors?” she said.
“Anyway, the national Budget 2022 is not carved in stone. It can be tweaked and proper audits should be put in place to ensure allocations are distributed judiciously.” – The Vibes, November 3, 2022
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