DON’T BE 'LEBIH-KURANG' ... NAJIB: What else do you think I can do?

NAJIB: DON’T BE 'LEBIH-KURANG'

CYBERJAYA: Malaysians should discard the attitude of being lebih-kurang or they will degenerate into a nation of sloths instead of becoming a precision society, said Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak. Using the 16th century Italian painter and sculptor Michelangelo as an example of how he wants Malaysians to be, Najib said: "Creativity is a highly organised activity and this was proven in Michelangelo's diary, which was said to look like a scientific journal. "His (Michelangelo's) ability to create masterpieces was built on preciseness similar to that in high-technology industries. "For an innovation ecosystem to bring benefits to the country, we have to nurture this form of creative thinking in our education system. "We have to create a precision society where terms like lebih-kurang (more or less) are not used anymore," he said in a keynote address at the Malaysia: Innovation Nation National Convention at the LimKokWing University here yesterday. Najib said funding was another critical component in the ecosystem and that it was time to streamline the fundings in order to optimise and maximise the returns on investments. Najib said Malaysia would also have to look at building on the inventions of others and marketing them to create new wealth. He said creative methods and approaches could also help in social improvements, adding that this had been the main drive behind his push for innovation at the centre stage and making it a national agenda. The Prime Minister said the Government was an important component of the innovation ecosystem and, as such, public servants needed to understand the environment necessary to spur innovation. "We have embarked on the Government Transformation Programme and this is already beginning to show favourable results. "We cannot stop at this – more has to be done. We have to bring innovation into the Government and Government into innovation. This involves every level of the public sector from the highest to the lowest level," he said. Source : The Star