by Nicasio Angelo Agustin
I found myself one afternoon stuck in front of the television set. The reason: I was mesmerized watching young students – from grade school to college – presenting their inventions. Their new creations are not at all new ideas. They are simply the products of combining old technologies with new ones and creating a set of new products. That’s what I call ingenuity – pure imagination put into reality, an upshot of creativity and the application of technical know-how.
The most amazing thing is that these are mere products of young minds. Time has greatly changed. There was a time when practical arts or vocational subjects were focused on the use of indigenous raw materials to create and recreate things. It was plainly reproducing existing objects into something more beautiful but functionally the same. Science then was more on observation and learning about the existing world – what it was. Today, there is the integration of science, technology and practical arts. It allows young minds to challenge the existing order by recreating and improving it.
Young minds can easily generate new ideas simply because they think about “what-ifs” and other possibilities. They can go beyond existing norms, set rules and standards. Their only guides are logic and science. Consequently, they produce something different. Wonderful! Consider for example the car fueled by solar energy produced by college student of a university in Manila. To some, this may not seem very new as the principles that guided the production of the solar energy-powered vehicle have long been in existence. The guts and daring spirit of these students to combine different technologies and principles that enabled them to produce it made all the difference.
It’s not merely the production of new things. It’s about the application of knowledge to produce relevant, useful and globally competitive new products. To me, that’s the real essence of invention.
We claim that Filipinos are great inventors. We claim that certain products were invented by well-known and not-so-well-known Filipinos. Some of these claims were contested; some were simply ignored. The fluorescent lamp is a classic example.
In another television show, some old Filipino scientists and inventors were aired as they call the attention of the government to provide them with funding support so that they could continue to harness their inventions or creations. The inventions that struck me most were: the super kalan (cooking stove) fueled by the traditional charcoal but more effective in producing the needed heat; a dust pan with wheels so that you can simply drag it as you clean the house; and a disposable plastic cover for toilet bowl rim to protect you from unnecessary infection when using public toilets.
Are these the type of “new” creations that require funding support from the government? There’s really nothing new with the super kalan which I had heard about some 20 years ago. It just evolved into something physically more attractive, and perhaps, more functionally effective, but it applied the same basic principles in each stage of its evolution. No addition or introduction of new knowledge. No integration or combination with new technology. Call it a Filipino brand cooking stove; it doesn’t make sense.
What about the dust pan with wheels? Why not invent a remote controlled vacuum cleaner by combining the principles of robotics and the usual operation of a vacuum cleaner. Yes, this is already in existence. The challenge is to make it a Filipino brand with the materials it is made of and the source of power to operate it. The idea is to advance what we have originally invented into something that projects intelligence, knowledge and technology – something that we can be proud of in the international market. We then have to think global – becoming at par with the quality of products of the rest of the world.
I am not trying to belittle old inventions. It is just that I don’t feel comfortable by having these products as eternal novelties of Filipino ingenuity. I believe that we can do more; we can do better.
If the government needs to invest, let it be for the further development of the young minds. Invest in schools as they advance their curricula in research and development, and in science and technology.
