Taiwan Invention’s Exhibition

Speech by Chief Minister of Penang
At Taiwan Invention’s Exhibition

2 October 2017

 

 

Ladies and gentlemen

Today marks a special milestone for Tech Dome Penang. After just over a year of operation, with so many activities and events to promote science and technology to our young, Tech Dome Penang has successfully brought in its first international exhibition to Penang – the Inventions Exhibitions from the National Science and Technology Museum, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.

We wish first of all, to thank Dr CHEN Shiunn-Shyang [陈训祥] of the National Science and Technology Museum (NSTM), his dedicated staff and management team for having taken a lot of effort to bring this special exhibition here to Penang.

I understand this exhibition has travelled to Guangdong, Chongqing, Macau and now it has come to Malaysia to educate Penangites and Malaysians about the process of innovation and invention. We are very honoured and privileged that the prestigious NSTM has chosen to have this in Tech Dome.

This exhibition is very timely, as Penang under the present State Government has put a lot of effort to promote Science, Technology, English and Mathematic (STEM) and Innovation. Recently, we launched Penang STEM 4.0., which is an initiative to pull together all the STEM related agencies in Penang including the RM28 million Tech Dome. The other agencies are the Malaysia's first digital library the RM3.5 million Penang Digital Library (PDL), the Penang Skills Development Center (PSDC), the RM23 million @CAT (an incubator) and Penang Science Cluster, and RM6 million the Karpal Singh Learning Center. 

The development of STEM and an innovative and entrepreneurial mindset is especially vital for the survival of Penang especially as we are now in a digital economy. We must be actively participating in Industry 4.0 if we are to survive, covering areas from artificial intelligence, robotics, cyber-security, big data analytics, cloud computing and IoT. If data is king, then talent is everything. We need to develop STEM teaching to build up human talent so that Penang can establish itself as a Centre of Excellence for science and technology. We hope that an exhibition like this will inspire our young people and show them not just what are innovations but also how, with a bit of work, they too can participate in the innovative process and be innovators themselves.

I like to congratulate the team at Tech Dome for the many creative activities and events, including this “Inventions Exhibition”, that they have put through at a rapid pace over the year. These events and activities have delighted and inspired Penangites and Malaysians in promoting STEM.

Lastly, I like to say a very big thank you on behalf of the Penang people, to NSTM, Dr. Chen, for your kind generosity for funding the entire exercise of bringing the exhibit here to Tech Dome, to the tune of approximately RM400,000. More than the expenses that NSTM has incurred, it is the learning and the shaping of minds that the exhibits will bring. This will be invaluable to our young people.

Let’s put our hands together to the dedicated teams of NSTM and Tech Dome Penang working together with the common purpose of educating and inspiring the new generation about STEM. With this, I like to declare the “Inventions Exhibition” from the National Science and Technology Museum, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, opened.

Thank you.