By: Dr. Athar Osama

Muslim-Science.Com met with Tan Sri Dr. Omar Abdur Rahman, Mahathir’s Science Advisor for over a decade and half and, the “prime mover” behind Mahathir Mohammed’s vision of a Knowledge-driven Malaysia.  A deeply humble man, Tan Sri Omar insists that Mahathir was a science policymaker par excellence in his own right and that he would hardly have needed a science advisor. However, he played a critical role in providing scientific credibility to Mahathir’s plans and helping the Prime Minister reach out to the scientific community to build support for his policies.

As  Malaysia’s first and longest serving Science Advisor – a position that he ended up molding  and that ended up molding him as well to the extent that – he ultimately personified what it really meant to be ‘Science Advisor’ of a Head of Government. Famously, when Tan Sri Omar joined the Prime Minister’s Office as Science Advisor, he had hardly an office and literally no staff of his own. When asked who would his staff be, it was pointed out that he could reach out to the entire scientific community as his staff. Omar built coalitions to make it happen.

Trained as veterinarian at Sydney University in Australia and Cambridge University in the United Kingdom, Tan Sri Omar returned to Malaysia to work in the Ipoh Veterinary Research Institute as a Research Officer rising to the rank of Deputy Director. In 1982 he joined as the Dean of Veterinary Sciences at the Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) and then its Deputy Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs before he was ‘called to service’ at the Prime Minister Office (PMO) as Mahathir’s Science Advisor in 1984. During his tenure he has been responsible for creating a plethora of Science and Innovation Institutions such as Malaysian Industry-Government High Technology Group (MIGHT), Malaysian Technology Development Corporation (MTDC), Technology Park Malaysia (TPM), and Academy of Sciences Malaysia (ASM), among others.

As Muslim-Science.Com sat down to speak with Tan Sri Omar, it was touched with the deep sense of humility of a man who has accomplished much for himself and his country but was uncomfortable talking about these. However,  as the discussion warmed up, Tan Sri Omar gradually opened up and provided numerous insights into Mahathir’s leadership style, his own undeniable influence on the ultimate choices of his leader, his contribution to Malaysian science and innovation landscape, and his frank and honest opinion on science policy in Malaysia since he left. This interview is being produced below for the benefit of Muslim-Science.Com’s audience.

Muslim Science (MS): Please tell us about your early days. How and why did a veterinary scientist become a science advisor?

Tan Sri Omar (TSO): I started my career as a veterinary scientist at Veterinary Research Institute in Ipoh, just north of Kuala Lumpur. I had trained as a pathologist in Sydney and Brisbane during the late 1950s and was a student in Australia when Malaysia gained independence. After this I went to United Kingdom to do my PhD where I became the first Malaysian to receive a PhD from Cambridge and was part of ground breaking research in animal viruses. We isolated the strain of virus that caused pneumonia in young pigs and calves that was very well received within the international scientific community.

Having resumed my work in Ipoh, I rose through the ranks to become the Deputy Director of the Institute. These were preliminary days of Malaysian Science. Malaysia was still a commodity based economy with much emphasis on Agriculture namely, rubber, forestry, natural resources, and tropical medicine. The science of animal husbandry was just taking off. There was a College of Agricultural Sciences at Serdang outside Kuala Lumpur (later UPM) that was looking at starting the discipline of veterinary and animal sciences. I moved to Universiti Putra Malaysia as the founding Dean of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences in 1972. By 1982, I had become the Deputy Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs responsible for research and policy at UPM. That’s when the opportunity to become the Science Advisor came.

Mahathir taking over from former PM Tun Hussein Onn

MS: So tell us why and how did Mahathir choose a Veterinary Scientist as his science advisor?

TSO: Mahathir Mohammed took over as Malaysia’s Third Prime Minister in 1981 and he created the position of the Science Advisor very early on and was looking to fill it. My only connection with Mahathir happened in his days as the Education Minister prior to becoming the Prime Minister.

When the call came I had no idea about what the position was. Initially, I thought the position to be not as ambitious as it sounds. I understood that Dr. Mahathir Mohammed wanted someone to look at scientific papers for him and to advise the Prime Minister on matters that required scientific advice.

Over time, though, the position developed a bit further. There were three basic tasks that the Science Advisor was supposed to perform. First, provide a professional and technical opinion to the Prime Minister on matters that required scientific input. Second, represent the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) on various forums of science and technology. Third, be the “prime mover” for development of science and technology in the country.

It was the later role that became the most important over time and became the all-consuming campaign of my life.

MS: So what did the job of the Science Advisor entailed in real life? How is it different from a Science Minister?

TSO: There is a historical precedence for the position of a Science Advisor. Most governments have Ministers heading Science and Technology. However, this is different from a Science Advisor. I believe there are two primary roles of a Science Advisor. One is scientific-academic. The closest parallel for this is the Chief Scientist position in the Cabinet Office in United Kingdom whose job is to provide scientific advice of high integrity to the Prime Minister.

The second role is political. This is equally, if not more, important. A Science Minister traditionally is a politician, albeit from the Prime Minister’s own party. However, being a politician he can sometimes be in competition with other Ministers – and even the Prime Minister himself – for progression, succession, or legacy. The Science Advisor, on the other hand, is an appointed not an elected position who is not a politician and hence completely loyal to the Prime Minister. His only job is the progress the Prime Ministers agenda in as broad a manner as possible and irrespective of ministerial rivalries. This means developing a working relationship with other Ministers and, in particular, the Science Minister since you will more or less step into his or her territory. The relationship could get adversarial. I had to work really hard on my relationship with the Science Minister and make myself useful to him while pursuing the Prime Minister’s science agenda.

Dr. Omar Abdur Rahman with Prime Minister Mahathir

I think the title of “prime mover” is apt as it describes Science Advisor’s role as the custodian of science across different ministerial portfolios. The Science Advisor can play a crucial role in bringing together diverse interests from across the different ministries. In the Malaysian Five Year Planning exercise, for example, I wrote a chapter on science and technology that cut across all ministries and filled the gaps left within their own plans for science and technology. As a result, for instance, we created a Special Fund for Research over and above each ministries’ research fund to supplement national priorities and address other areas that may slip through the cracks. These national priorities were to be collectively determined and we came up with a list of health, agriculture, industries, and strategic (or basic) research for the 5^th Five Year Plan.

MS: What was your relationship with Prime Minister Mahathir like? Tell us about his leadership style and aspirations when it came to science and innovation for Malaysia.

TSO: I have never really thought hard about how Mahathir and I got on. It was certainly a two-way traffic. Mahathir is a very good and patient listener. But he is also a very intelligent leader. He travelled extensively, read a lot, and absorbed a lot of what he would see. He would often come back from his travel and ask questions. You would find his scribble notes saying something was a good idea and he wanted to look into it, or how something worked, or whether I thought it was a good idea. My job – and later that of my Office – would be to support him. We had an easy relationship. My office was located in the Prime Minister’s Department which is itself a full Ministry with various agencies and it was OK for me to walk into his office when he wasn’t occupied for a 5-minute chat.

The first thing he asked me to do was to look into the microelectronics industry. He has returned from UK and Japan and had invited these countries to invest in Malaysia to set up microelectronics industry. He wanted me to explore the possibility of setting up a microelectronics centre to develop capacity and carry out research in this sector.

I had very little knowledge of how this science or industry worked. I contacted industry professionals and sought out information to prepare a position paper on creating an institute that was presented to the Cabinet and approved by the latter on 17th October 1984. The purpose of Malaysian Institute of Microelectronic Systems (MIMOS) was to provide critical infrastructure for the advancement of local electronic industry so that the nation can design, produce and market high quality electronic products by indigenous capabilities due to the importance of industrial and economic growth. The institute started working on January 1st, 1985 with Tunku Mohammed Azzman as its head.

Another opportunity was the creation of the Carbon Composites business in Malaysia. Mahathir had come across Carbon Composites during one of his travels and was quite intrigued by the interesting possibilities. He came back to me and asked me if I could look into these new materials and do something with it. This led us to try to do something with Carbon Composites. We came across an Australian firm out of Perth that had developed a 2-seater aircraft using Carbon composites but had run out of money. We thought it could be revived with some injection of capital and that would give us access to this interesting technology and market. Malaysia, through the Ministry of Finance, ended up buying 50% equity into this company that ending up owning a business of 2-seater aircrafts – the Eagle 150B – certified to fly in Australia. We set up the company – Composite Technology Research Malaysia (CTRM) – in Malaysia and charged it with setting up a composites and aerospace industry in Malaysia. Today CTRM produces composite parts of the A380 Airbus aircraft in Melaka and is a part of the global supply chain of composites aero structures for major commercial aircraft manufacturers in the world.

MS: These examples provide interesting insights into Mahathir’s leadership style. How would you describe it? Was he – like many leaders are –instinctive and a bit impulsive? How did you, as the Science Advisor, complement his personality?

TSO: I don’t think so.  I think he had the capacity to absorb a lot of information. And yes, he had a very sharp mind so he could see possibilities. He often came to us when he had made up his mind about half-way through and was looking for conformation of his instinct or otherwise. He was a good listener but also held and formed very strong views. However, I always felt that he was open to being convinced otherwise as well.

Mahathir's Hands-on Leadership Style

He was also a very hands-on leader. I remember when Malaysia embarked upon the construction of the Petronas Towers he was leading from the front. He would spend time visiting the Twin Towers construction site – sometimes unannounced – and speak with construction managers and workers about progress. During the construction we had this problem with the bridge that connected the two towers together as the wind shear turned out to be much greater than anticipated. None of the senior managers and supervisors had the stomach to tell the Prime Minister that his most ambitious project needs major modifications. Mahathir discovered that himself by talking to junior staff and one day turned up at the construction site and asked to go up the elevator to the bridge level himself. It was there that he inspected what the problem was and suggested a solution to remedy it. It was that kind of leadership that endeared him and inspired those working on many of his projects.

The task of the Science Advisor was that of building partnerships and rallying the scientific community in support of Prime Ministers aspirations. What started as informal conversations with the country’s leading scientists on important policy-matters ultimately evolved into the creation of Academy Science Malaysia (ASM) in 1994 as the formal advisory body. We also created Malaysian Industry – Government High Technology Group (MIGHT) that promoted industry collaborations but also became part of the Science Advisor’s advice group.

MS: Malaysian Science has come a long way since those formative years. However, there are some gaps with respect to innovation – or the application or commercialization of scientific research for societal benefit. You have created a number of institutions to help with that. How would you assess Malaysia’s innovative capability?

Mahathir Mohammed and Omar Abdur Rahman at the Launch of CPTM

TSO: You are quite right. In many respects Malaysia has done quite well. Its economic performance has been admirable throughout Mahathir’s time. It is the leading Islamic country in terms of percentage of high technology exports (at 65%). Innovation is the next stage. We created a number of institutions to support innovation. Malaysia lacked a venture capital industry so we worked with Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) to create Malaysian Technology Development Corporation (MTDC) with the 70% investment of the government and 30% by private sector to support entrepreneurship and venture capital. In order to promote early stage entrepreneurship we created a series of incubation programmes starting from government-led Technology Park Malaysia (TPM). Today, a number of Malaysian Universities have incubators and technology parks. Government has always been the initiator for the development of such capacity. The Office of the Science Advisor played a crucial role in all of these cross-ministerial initiatives.

MS: Malaysia seems to have done everything right, at least “on paper”, to make innovation happen. Yet, the creation of Prime Minister’s Special Innovation Unit (UNIK) is in a sense an admission of the fact that it has lagged behind in promoting innovation. Would you agree?

TSO: Our record in innovation has not been as good. It certainly could have been better. I believe there are serious gaps in our innovation eco-system and we have been trying to bridge those gaps. We just have to continue doing this. We need leadership and courage to continue on this path of creating an innovation eco-system.

Since I’ve left office, Malaysia has faltered a bit and that underscores the importance of continued leadership. When I retired after 16.5 years of service as Science Advisor, Dr. Mahathir retained the position as part of the Prime Minister’s Office. However, his successor sent the Science Advisor to the Ministry of Science Technology and Innovation (MOSTI). That wasn’t the right move. By making the Science Advisor subordinate to the Minister the usefulness of the position was diminished. Then the position was vacant for several years until Datuk Seri Najib took office and Dr. A. H. Zakri was appointed.  Now the position is moving back to the Prime Minister’s Office and, I believe, that’s where it belongs if it is to be effective.

MS: So you believe that Malaysia needs a Special Innovation Unit apart from the Science Advisor at the Prime Minister’s Office to succeed in innovation?

TSO: We will have to see how effective it will be.

MS: I will go back to my question again. I believe Malaysia has done everything right “on paper” and “by the book”. Yet, there seems to be something missing. As you say, the performance on innovation isn’t as good as you would have liked. The science and innovation system that Malaysia has tried to put together been at least a couple of decades in the making now, if not more. There has been the Mahathir Economic Model that succeeded in making Malaysia a middle income country but, by Mahathir’s own admission, failed to take where he wanted Malaysia to go. The New Economic Model (NEM) by the current government is designed to change course as Malaysia’s economic miracle seems to be faltering. Do you believe what Malaysia really needs is a New Social Model to jumpstart its innovation engine and to help it become a high income society?

TSO: The government is very strong on 1 Malaysia concept.  I am for that.  To me 1 Malaysia is Smart Partnership in action for our country.  The government is also strong on the Economic Transformation Programme of the New Economic Model.  I would like to see more Science, Technology and Innovation content in the ETP.  Without ST&I the various entry points projects may not be sustainable in the long term.

MS: Tan Sri Omar, it was a pleasure chatting with you. You have been deeply involved in a fascinating time for Malaysia’s progress. We look forward to talking to you again and learning more about it.

Dr. Athar Osama is a London based science and innovation policy consultant and the Director of Middle East and Asia for an international technology policy consulting firm and the Editor of Muslim-Science.Com

Disclaimer: The interviewer does not vouch for the veracity of statements made in this interview. His job is to convey the responses of the interviewee in an honest and faithful manner.

• Share