BY UMAIYAL MUNUSAMY
“JOM” is a friendly phrase commonly used among Malaysians no matter their age, gender or race. In English, “Jom” means “Let’s go”. Every Malaysian will often use this phrase in their daily lives. Some of the examples are “Jom makan” (Let’s eat), “Jom minum” (Let’s get a drink), “Jom balik” (Let’s go back), and “Jom mamak” (Let’s go to the mamak stall). So, “Jom Science” basically means “Let’s learn Science”.
Jom Science, Malaysia (JSM) is an initiative [ihc-hide-content ihc_mb_type=”show” ihc_mb_who=”2,3,5″ ihc_mb_template=”1″ ] started in 2018 by Tan Ju Lin and the Malaysian Biotechnology Information Centre (MABIC). Inspired by Humans of New York, Tan wanted to feature stories of Malaysian scientists in a photoblog in various social media platform such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn. The main idea is to help the public to have a better understanding of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields in Malaysia and the research work in this areas.
The initiative is getting a shot in the arm with many young science communication enthusiasts joining to talk about their work. The key contributors “met” online and discussed the way forward to get Malaysians to say Jom Science!
Contributors and invited guests from the scientific fraternity will take turns to feature their research work. They are not limited to scientists as the JSM wishes to groom postgraduate and undergraduate students to connect with the society and make science a common lingo among the public.
“In order to develop a better connection with the audience, we need eye-capturing images accompanied with a short write up. To connect with one’s emotion, it is best to use an active tone for your write-up. Importantly, tell a story in the same way that you would usually speak passionately about your research,” says Tan.
“Students emulate and inspire to become people who they meet. And most of them hardly get to meet scientists. How then do we expect them to have desire to become scientists?”, asks Dr Mahaletchumy Arujanan, one of the co-founders of JSM.
“Students need to see the life of scientists and be able to visualise their work to be inspired to be one. We are attempting to bring students into the world of research,” says Mahaletchumy.
Jom Science Malaysia will cover all areas of STEM. “As time goes on, we hope that “Jom Science, Malaysia!” will achieve its purpose of helping the public to understand STEM better. Importantly, we want to help them see that STEM is not as daunting as it sounds and that it can be incorporated into their lifestyle today, tomorrow and in the future”, says Tan.
MABIC invites more scientists to join this journey. pd [/ihc-hide-content]
