KUDOS to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob for making the right decision for science. Following up on an earlier announcement, the Academy of Science (ASM) president is now back as the science adviser to the PM.
ASM is set to regain its former glory. When established in 1996, the ASM president was also the PM's science adviser.
That was during Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad's era as PM and Tan Sri Dr Omar Abdul Rahman was the first science adviser to the PM.
Few would disagree that when Omar helmed the science advisory role, science underwent a robust transformation.
He created the vibrant ecosystem that science needed then.
That was possible because of Dr Mahathir's passion as well for science and industrialisation.
When Tan Sri Dr Zaharudin Idrus assumed the position of science adviser and ASM president, he continued Omar's good work.
Science continued to deliver value to the nation as the country struggled to diversify its economy and embraced the changing trends in scientific endeavours.
By then, science was an important feature of the country's five-year Malaysia Plan, thanks to Omar's efforts. A lot of diplomacy went into getting more recognition for science.
But Zaharudin faced a different challenge. It was unfortunate that during his time, the academy, not through his doing, had its role as the nation's advisory think tank for science diluted.
This was followed by the separation of roles between ASM president and science adviser.
Tan Sri Dr Yusof Basiron, who took over the ASM presidency when Zaharudin retired, was not given the role of science adviser.
The science, technology and innovation minister then proclaimed himself as the science adviser.
This was also the case when Tan Sri Dr Tajuddin Ali succeeded Yusof as president.
By then ASM, instead of being an independent entity, was reduced to being another agency under the Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry.
The think tank and advisory roles were diluted. In fact, at one time, ASM was not even recognised as a strategic part of the ministry.
ASM was put back into the strategy group during Tajuddin's time as president.
By then Tan Sri Zakri Abdul Hamid had been made science adviser to then PM Datuk Seri Najib Razak, but was not made ASM president.
When Professor Datuk Dr Asma Ismail assumed the presidency, the strategy role of ASM was further enhanced.
It was called to contribute more to the formulation of policies that were science-centric, including those related to water, energy, and research and development.
It was during Asma's time that ASM's advisory role was given a more strategic part to play.
Now that the ASM president is back to his former role as science adviser, there is need to rethink the governance of ASM.
Judging by what has been developing in science, many believe Ismail Sabri has the political will to bring changes to the governing of science.
There is now better recognition of the role of science, technology and innovation (STI) in nation-building.
Rightly so, because most of the obstacles to the nation's progress and development have their roots in issues that look to STI for answers.
There is no denying that a country's competitiveness is mostly influenced by its STI strength.
Failure to empower STI can spell failure for the economy
Issues — including food security, energy independence, industrial competitiveness and social equity — all look to STI for solutions.
Ismail Sabri has made the right move to inject vitality into ASM. The next step is to make ASM independent.
One suggestion mooted is to place ASM under Parliament.
To be an effective adviser to the government, ASM must be free to offer advice, but it must be in the interest of making the nation harmonious, progressive, prosperous and sustainable.
The writer is a professor at the Tan Sri Omar Centre for STI Policy, UCSI University
