Kuala Lampur, July 4 -- For decades, the world has looked to science for answers. From climate change and resource depletion to pandemics and social inequality, every existential threat we face demands a scientific solution. Yet, ironically, just when we need science the most, interest in it is waning. In Malaysia, the warning signs are clear: declining enrolment in STEM fields, a stalled shift up the economic value chain, and a creeping resignation that we might forever remain assemblers, not inventors.

This is not a failure of our scientists' ability. It is a failure of national imagination. If we want a future built on innovation, we must start by venerating its architects. It is time for the Malaysian government to bestow the highest...