SANDAKAN ELEVATES LOCAL WISDOM AND INSPIRES STUDENTS TO EXPLORE STEM & INNOVATION

17 September 2025

SANDAKAN (Saturday): Sandakan will be the third location to host the concurrent Local Wisdom Innovation Competition and STEMQuest Ignite 2025, scheduled to take place from 20 to 21 September 2025 under the banner of the Putrajaya Festival of Ideas (PFOI) 2025. The programme is organised by the Institute for Development Studies (Sabah) (IDS Sabah) in strategic collaboration with the Kementerian Sains, Teknologi dan Inovasi Sabah (KSTI), the Sabah State Education Department, Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS), the Sabah Credit Corporation (SCC), and is supported by the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE).

This competition is designed as an effort to elevate the significance of Sabah’s local wisdom, ensuring that the traditional knowledge inherited by communities continues to be documented, preserved, and utilised as part of the state’s identity. At the same time, it also emphasises student participation in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and innovation as key drivers of future progress.

Through this initiative, the younger generation will not only have the opportunity to explore their local cultural heritage but also be encouraged to discover creative and relevant new solutions to current challenges.

Datuk Ts. Dr. Ramzah Dambul, IDS Sabah Chief Executive Officer emphasised that this programme is not only crucial to sustaining the uniqueness of Sabah’s local wisdom but also creates opportunities for students to develop an interest in STEM through hands-on, creative, and community-based experiences. He noted that integrating STEM-based innovation with local wisdom values will produce inclusive solutions suited to Sabah’s social context and beneficial to the state’s long-term development.

The Local Wisdom Innovation Competition focuses on gathering and documenting Sabah’s traditional knowledge so it can be showcased and developed as a source of identity and economic potential for the state. Meanwhile, STEMQuest Ignite 2025 serves as a platform for primary and secondary students to build interest in STEM through creative approaches, research, and community-based problem-solving activities.

The Sandakan edition is expected to spark more communities across Sabah to embrace innovation rooted in local wisdom and science. It is also hoped to nurture a generation of youth who are creative thinkers, grounded in their own culture, and ready to contribute to the sustainable and prosperous development of the state. For further information, please contact the IDS Sabah Secretariat at 088-450500 or email at info@ids.org.my.