Nga Kor Ming urges KPKT to expand, replicate and commercialise successful innovations instead of allowing them to end as competition entries.
PUTRAJAYA: Successful innovations developed within the Housing and Local Government Ministry (KPKT) should be expanded, replicated and commercialised where viable instead of ending as competition entries, its minister Nga Kor Ming said today.
He said innovations that had proven effective should be taken further so their benefits could reach a wider section of the public, particularly where they could simplify processes and improve service delivery.
“The objective should not merely be to win an award. The most important objective is to improve the wellbeing of the people,” he said when speaking at KPKT Innovation Day 2026 here.
Nga said innovation should reduce bureaucracy rather than add further layers to existing procedures.
“It is no use if before an innovation there are five steps, but after the innovation there are 10 steps. That only adds more bureaucracy.
“We want to make things simpler, easier and faster. That is technology. That is innovation,” he said.
Nga cited a system developed by personnel from the Alor Setar Fire and Rescue Station, which he said cost RM657 to develop before winning an innovation award carrying RM1 million in prize money.
According to Nga, the system could interrupt radio broadcasts near an emergency location to alert motorists and urge them to give way to approaching Fire and Rescue Department vehicles.
He said the next step for successful projects such as this was to determine how they could be commercialised and adopted more widely.
Recalling the achievement by the Alor Setar team, Nga said 17 personnel were involved and that he had personally given RM1,000 to each of them following their win.
“There were 17 of them. I gave RM1,000 to each, that was RM17,000.
“The RM1 million? Ask Najib and Rosmah,” he said.
Nga also offered a personal incentive to encourage KPKT personnel to compete for the country’s top public-sector innovation recognition.
“Whoever wins the Prime Minister’s Innovation Award this year, I will contribute one month of my ministerial salary to the winner who brings honour to the ministry,” he said.
This year, KPKT received 54 innovation entries, comprising 11 for the Minister’s Innovation Award and 43 for the Innovative and Creative Group (KIK) awards involving divisions, departments and agencies under the ministry.
Nga said the ministry wanted innovation to become part of its working culture rather than something pursued only for competitions.
Its innovation framework calls for initiatives that have proven effective to be expanded, replicated and scaled up so their benefits can be applied more broadly.
He also pointed to Malaysia’s performance in international benchmarks, including its rise to 15th place in the 2026 IMD World Competitiveness Ranking from 23rd last year.
“Malaysia is now in the top 15 in the world. We are ahead of the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and Japan,” he said.
Malaysia was also ranked 34th among 139 economies in the Global Innovation Index 2026 and second among upper-middle-income economies.
Nga said such rankings mattered only if improvements translated into greater productivity, stronger institutional efficiency and more effective public service delivery.
