From the Ivory Towers to the
Masses
Mahaletchumy Arujanan
Executive Director
Malaysian Biotechnology
Information Centre
www.bic.org.my
www.bic.org.my
“You don’t really
understand something
unless you can explain
it to your
grandmother”
- Albert Einstein
www.bic.org.my
Importance of being understood
© Sidney Harris
© Sidney Harris
Contraints in Communicating
Science/Biotechnology
• Lack of trained science communicators
• Lack of support (policies, media, institutional)
• No science desk at media
• Pseudoscience / pseudoscientist
• Public interest on science lacking
• The diversity of the “publics”
• Strong “green” advocates
www.bic.org.my
Biotech is:
www.bic.org.my
www.bic.org.my
www.bic.org.my
www.bic.org.my
Science in books
Science in movies…
A Non-Traditional Approach
www.bic.org.my
MABIC in a nutshell
• Established in June 2000
• Part of ISAAA and its 25 country
nodes
• Hosted by Monash University
Malaysia
• Aim – disseminate factual, accurate,
science-based info to all biotech
stakeholders
• Create public awareness on
biotechnology
• Close partner to government agencies
• 3-member team
www.bic.org.my
MyBio Carnival 2010
Exhibition
BioWonders
www.bic.org.my
School Competitions
Debate
www.bic.org.my
School Competitions
BioSpelling
BioQuiz
www.bic.org.my
Poster Drawing
www.bic.org.my
Poster Drawing
www.bic.org.my
Fashion Show
www.bic.org.my
•
•
•
•
Introduced biotechnology to fashion fraternity
Fashion designers are keen to participate in
future events
Garnered media coverage
UiTM – the biggest fashion school will
introduce biotech in their syllabus
www.bic.org.my
“BioRunway definitely
helped us to
broaden our
knowledge in the
field of
biotechnology. Now I
can go out sharing
our experiences with
others”
- UiTM fashion design lecturer,
Aniza Mohd Arif
www.bic.org.my
Feedback:
“We learned a lot (about biotechnology) and had a new topic to talk about. We had to
devote a week of preparation by doing research on the Internet prior to the
debate. There’s so much information available but we have to make sure it is
accurate.” – Debate Participant
“Now we know what biotechnology is and how interesting it is as a field of study.
Initially. We learned about what the technology can do to improve the quality of
living.” – Quiz participant
“ We learned to spell words associated with biotechnology. In addition, we got new
terms needed for a better understanding of what the science is all about.” –
BioSpelling participant
“Fashion and science are seen as two extremes with no meeting points. Never in
my mind have I ever thought that the two could merge.” – Fashion designer
www.bic.org.my
Media Coverage
Television
• Selamat Pagi
Malaysia (Malay)
• Biz Malaysia (English)
• Vasantham (Tamil)
• Hello On 2 (English)
• Tamil News
– Radio
• Traxx FM (English)
–
Newspaper
• New Straits Times (2)
• The Sun Daily
News Agency
•
Bernama News
www.bic.org.my
Media Coverage:
www.bic.org.my
The Petri Dish
• The Petri Dish
– Monthly Biotech
Newspaper
– Free newspaper
– Distributed to Universities,
RIs, Ministries,Gov
agencies, Schools, Industry
www.bic.org.my
The Petri Dish – What they say?
 Well done! A good start to introduce
biotech to the community
- Prof. Khatijah Yusoff, Deputy Secretary General,
MOSTI
 Refreshing and illuminating!
- Dr. K. Harikrishna, SVP, Sime Darby
 The Petri Dish is a timely publication, one
that addresses the need to not only reach
out to, but also to bring attention to the
biotechnology industry in an accessible and
easy-to-read manner
- Mr. Kandiah, IP Lawyer
 Petri Dish is a very effective means of
educating Biotech to the public, it always
works when you it in a simple and colourful
story
- Dr. Umi Kalsom, Director, MARDI
www.bic.org.my
Teachers & Biotech
Biotechnology Workshop for teachers
• Strong support from MOE
• Throughout Malaysia
• Engagement of Public Universities and
Research Institutes
• Create science communicators among
researchers
www.bic.org.my
Ulama & Biotech
Dialogues with Ulama
• International Workshop for Islamic Scholars: Islam and
Agribiotechnology: Finding a common language between ulama
and scientists, July 2009
• GM session during WHF, June 2009
• International workshop for Islamic Scholars: Agribiotechnology:
Shariah Compliance, Dec 2010
www.bic.org.my
www.bic.org.my