Document Type
Conference Item
Publication Date
8-4-2004
Abstract
The development of science and technology in Malaysia, like most developing countries, is state-led and state-driven, rather than a result of laissez-faire conditions. But in recent times, even in the developed world the development of science and technology has to some extent been influenced by the state. The existence of National Innovation Systems, and policies pertaining to the environment, testify to this. In Malaysia, our science and technology policy, which was first articulated in 1986 during the period of the Fifth Malaysia Plan, was designed as an integral part of the national economic policy, and not independently of it. The development of science and technology in other words, was meant to be an instrument for economic growth. Science and technology was to serve as an investment item and not as a consumption item. Thus government spending on S&T was closely related to those sectors which had been targeted by the government to serve as engines of economic growth. In the 1970s this was largely the agricultural sector, in the 1980s it began to shift towards the industrial sector (Hing Ai Yun 1986), and in the 1990s it shifted again towards the ICT industry (Dieter-Evers 2001). Thus developments in S&T closely parallels government efforts in economic development, and in some cases are even causally connected as in R&D expenditure in the agricultural sector, for example through government research institutes (GRI’s) such as the Rubber Research Institute (RRI), Malaysian Agricultural Research Institute (MARDI), and Palm Oil Research Institute of Malaysia (PORIM).
Keywords
Epistemology, Modernity, Contemporary Islam, History and Philosophy of Science.
Divisions
ScienceandTechnologyStudies
Event Title
4th International Malaysian Studies Conference
Event Location
UKM Bangi, Selangor
Event Dates
3-5 August 2004
Event Type
conference
Additional Information
Prof. Dr. Mohd Hazim Shah holds a Bachelor’s degree in Liberal Studies in Science from Manchester University, England, a Master’s degree in Philosophy from the London School of Economics, and a PhD in the History and Philosophy of Science from the University of Pittsburgh, U.S.A. In 1993 he was a Visiting Research Fellow at the Department of History & Philosophy of Science, University of Melbourne, Australia. From January to June 2008 he spent his sabbatical leave at the Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge, as a Visiting Scholar. He is currently a Professor in the Department of Science and Technology Studies, University of Malaya, where he teaches the history, philosophy, and sociology of science. He has been the Deputy President of the Malaysian Social Science Association since 2000. His research interest includes theoretical studies on science and culture, and comparative epistemology.