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MINDS July 2021 CREATIVE MINDS Conversa�ons with Selected Personali�es MINDS COUNCIL MEMBERS 2020 / 2022 Patron President Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed Academician Tan Sri Emeritus Professor Datuk Dr Augus�ne S H Ong Honorary Treasurer Vice President Honorary Secretary Ms Chris�ne Ong Datuk Dr Choo Yuen May Mr Tan Bok Hooi Council Members Major Munusamy Mr Ahmad Ezzat Mr Tan Kim Dr Ravigadevi Prof Ir Dr Leong Arigovindan Ismail Seng Sambanthamurthi Wai Yie Chairman Academician Tan Sri Emeritus Professor Datuk Dr Augus�ne S H Ong MINDS President Editor of MINDS newsletter Illustration credit Azman Ismail CONTENT PAGE Message from MINDS President 2 Editor’s Note 3 Academician Tan Sri Emeritus Professor Datuk Dr Augustine S H Ong For a better tomorrow 4 Tan Sri Dato’ Dr Abu Bakar Suleiman Pushing the boundaries 5 Datuk Ramli Ibrahim Making a difference 6 Datuk Dr Choo Yuen May Journey into the unknown 8 Datuk Thomas Leong The universe is the limit 9 Datin Winnie LooFollow your heart 10 Dato’ Vincent Lim Driving change 11 Professor Emeritus Dr Muhammad Haji Salleh Words of wisdom 12 Associate Professor Rebecca Wong Destiny in our hands 13 Professor Dr Ng Kwan Hoong The beauty of physics 14 Dr Leo Ann-Mean Unleashing creativity 15 Associate Professor Bernard Saw Engineering our future 16 Assistant Professor Pang Yean Ling Joy of discovery 17 Associate Professor Dr Yeong Chai Hong Innovative mind 18 Dr Lim Swee Tin Poetry in motion 19 Tan Bee Eu Here comes the sun 20 Hiro Tan Finding purpose 22 Yeo Eng Lam Heart for compassion 23 Dr Vanitha Ratnalingam Challenging the frontiers 24 Kiew Khai Cheng Freedom of choice 25 Athirah Hisham Chasing her dreams 26 Barry Ong Windows of the world 27 Chaing YiLing Soprano sensation 28 Arisha Akhir Words carry weight 29 Megan Mei Reaching for the stars 30 MINDS Special Edition 1 MESSAGE FROM MINDS PRESIDENT here were several reasons for the setting up of MINDS. One compelling reason is that in our aspiration to be competitive in world trade, we need to catch up not only with science and technology but also to Tbe creative and inventive. It is obvious that our system of education needs to provide some space for students to have time to think, to have personal opinions and to be creative. One case in point is that during the anti-palm oil campaign launched by the American Soybean Association (ASA) in 1986, a leading Malaysian nutritionist agreed with the ASA’s point of view without any critical evaluation although the individual possessed a Ph.D from Australia and a post-doctoral experience in London. I take this case as the result of our early education inspite of further education that is we do not think but accept directive and opinion from perceived higher authority even though in this case an interested American commercial interest. Another incident which led me to the idea of MINDS took place in USM. I co-authored a book entitled “The Chemistry of Free Radicals” published by Edward Arnold, London. I proudly handed it to the Vice-Chancellor of USM and he retorted “Augustine, Don’t waste your time! Do something useful for our country”. That remark changed my direction of research which led to the discovery of a novel method of fractionation of palm oil and earned a patent from the British patent office. I then decided after deliberating on the happenings described above, that an association should be formed to encourage inventive activities among Malaysians of all ages with the slogan: MINDS Forever. Following the establishment of MINDS in 1987, it was decided that an annual exhibition should be organized starting in 1989, as a platform for inventors to showcase their novel ideas. The number of inventions grew from the initial 50 to 1,000 for the last 7 years, dropping to 500 only in 2020 due to the pandemic. The membership of MINDS exceeds 2020 (a figure promised to our Patron: Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed). The figure has now reached 2261. This is a brief account of the progress of MINDS. Creativity is important to individuals for self-actualisation and to the nation and mankind for knowledge, enlightenment and advances. Our civilization advances via creative works, discoveries and innovations. We should promote the two cultures – the sciences and the humanities as proposed by Baron C P Snow to make us more rounded and holistic. Academician Tan Sri Emeritus Professor Datuk Dr Augustine S H Ong MINDS Special Edition 2 EDITOR’S NOTE he world rejoiced when CERN’s Large Hadron Collider finally observed the Higgs boson in 2012, the elusive particle fundamental to the understanding of how our universe works. In 2016 LIGO detected Tgravitational waves, feeble ripples in spacetime almost a century after Albert Einstein predicted its existence. The quest for nature’s secret has never been more exciting. The Human Genome Project remains one of the largest collaboration of the scientific community with the primary purpose of mapping all the genes of the human genome. When the mapping was finally completed in 2003, various possibilities including gene editing were rigorously pursued. Whether it is physics or biology the focus has always been towards the fundamental answers that still elude us until today. Max Planck, who first proposed the idea of energy packets which gave birth to the Quantum Revolution or the collaboration of James Watson and Francis Crick who discovered the DNA Double Helix shared some common traits. They were revolutionary in their thinking, dare to challenge the established rules and passionate about their ideas. These are some of the fundamental traits of creativity. Creativity is everywhere. Pablo Picasso experimented and inspired Cubist artwork, an approach where the object is never painted using a single viewpoint. The representation of the object is depicted in a multitude of viewpoints in the most creative manner. His boldness to explore new terrain and diverge from conventional path speaks volume of his boundless imagination. Einstein’s laboratory is his mind where thought experiments are visualized with phenomenal clarity. To him, logic will take you from point A to B but imagination can take you everywhere. He unlocked the secrets of the universe with his penchant for curiosity and an exceptionally creative mind. Yet he was an accomplished violin player as the music of Mozart helped him to stay focused and relaxed. It was his playing of the violin while working on a classroom experiment at Zurich Polytechnic that distracted Mileva Maric to confront him. Music does have a role in love. All of us are made of quarks and leptons. In fact everything is made of quarks and leptons. What distinctively differentiate us are primarily our thoughts and emotions. Diversity in our thinking ensures a passionate debate about almost everything that we hold dear to. Celebration of diversity is the key to a progressive nation. It is only when we agree to disagree we will be able to forge a more productive path whether it is in science, literature or arts. The Special Edition celebrates creativity in its most fundamental way. Whether we are scientists, doctors, poets, musicians, dancers, artists, photographers or entrepreneurs we are fundamentally the same. We strive for a better world and we let our boundless creativity lead the way for a better tomorrow. Tan Bok Hooi MINDS Special Edition 3 For a better tomorrow Academician Tan Sri Emeritus Professor Datuk Dr Augustine S H Ong, president of MINDS shares his insights on his proudest moments and his most memorable days during his research years. Born in Malacca, he was a recipient of 2012 Merdeka Award and a leading figure in the palm oil industry. Please describe your most memorable experience that you are What are the three most important traits that you feel is necessary always proud of as a young boy and how does it shape your views to leapfrog the rest to produce phenomenal results In the area of of life itself research? At the age of seven during WWII, I organised a long march for a a. To have an open mind with a strong foundation of fundamental number of young mothers through a rubber plantation to a remote principles of your discipline village settlement of farmers deep in the jungle in Alor Gajah so that b. To have absolute integrity in your observation and interpretation of they would be safe from soldiers. Indeed they were safe during the experimental evidence Japanese occupation and I assisted with food supplies to complement c. To have commitment and vision of your endeavours what the farmers provided. I am proud of this achievement at the tender age of seven. This incident gave me confidence that nothing What do you think is your most important contribution in the palm oil is impossible if one tries. research that changes the way how the world perceives us as a nation? What is your role model during your postgraduate days and how My contribution to the research and development of the chemistry does the role model help to inspire you to greater heights in and technology of palm oil and its significant role in advocating and research excellence? promoting the Malaysian palm oil industry to the world. Further, my work continued to establish palm olein to be comparable to virgin olive oil in After graduating from University of Malaya (UM) in Singapore with terms of their effects on LDL levels in human blood. This observation can B.Sc (Hons) with First Class and M.Sc. in Chemistry, I was accepted by be rationalised by my sn-2 hypothesis, which is the nature of fatty acid UM in Kuala Lumpur as an assistant lecturer in 1959.

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