A Study on the Current Status and Needs Assessment of Water Resources Research in Malaysia Volume 2

A Study on the Current Status and Needs Assessment of 23Water Resources Research in Malaysia - Position Paper2.5.5 Examples of Emerging Technologies include Oasys (http://oasyswater.com) and HydrationA conventional water and wastewater treatment Technology Innovations (http://www.htiwater.com). Thethat system comprises of a series of processes, technology utilises membrane and low-grade heat,with each having its unique function, has resulted instead of electricity, to drive the desalination process.in the removal of certain types of pollutants. In The technology is reported to produce the sameaddition to these processes, advanced treatments standard of potable quality at much lower cost.are sometimes employed to further enhance thequality of the treated water. These processes involvethe removal of dissolved solids or constituents thatcannot be removed by the conventional process. Thetechnologies that are currently used at this stageinclude membrane technologies, adsorption, ionexchange and advanced oxidation processes. In addition to the existing advanced technologies, Figure 2.6 The flow diagram of the Forward Osmosisemerging technologies have been and are currently process.being developed; responding to the driving factors Source: http://oasyswater.comas mentioned earlier. A comprehensive study wasconducted on emerging technologies in water and In addition to the development of FO, membraneswastewater treatment by Frost and Sullivan (2010). are currently being developed using new materialsAs it is impossible to provide the whole array of the such as zeolites, carbon nanotubes, and Aquaporines,emerging technologies, the following sections provide a class of proteins. The successful developmentsome examples of those reported by Frost and of these new membranes will result in low energySullivan (2010) and also from other sources. requirement, less biofouling and higher rate of water transfer (Frost and Sullivan, 2010).2.5.5.1 Membrane TechnologyAdvances in filtration membrane technologies have 2.5.5.2 Nutrient and Materials Recoverybeen displacing chemical treatment system. The Technologymembrane water treatment market is expected to Technologies have been developed to recovergrow from US$1.5 billion in 2009 to US$12.07 billion in nutrients and materials from sewage treatment2020 (Badkar, 2011). The commonly used membrane plant. The recovery technologies help in generatingtechnology includes microfiltration, ultrafiltration, a revenue stream for wastewater utilities. Examplesnanofiltration and reverse osmosis. These membranes of these technologies are Ostara’s Pearl® Process,are mainly classified by their pore size, which CAST® Wastewater Technology, urine separation unitaffects the size of pollutants that they can remove and bio-polymer production from wastewater (Frostand eventually the pressure that is required in the and Sullivan, 2010).process (Interdonato and McCarthy, 2001). Membrane Ostara’s Pearl® Process provides abioreactor (MBR) is a type of activated sludge system, comprehensive approach to nutrient managementwhich utilises membrane as solid separation facility (http://www.ostara.com). The technology is based onreplacing secondary clarifier. controlled chemical precipitation in a fluidised bed reactor that recovers struvite in the form of highly Forward Osmosis (FO) is a new type of membraneprocess based on direct osmosis across a reverseosmosis membrane. It is currently developed fordesalination purposes. In FO, water transfers fromsaline side to the draw solute side due to osmoticpressure (Figure 2.6). At present, the technologyhas been patented by several inventors, which

24 A Study on the Current Status and Needs Assessment of Water Resources Research in Malaysia - Position Paperpure crystalline pellets or ‘prills.’ Nutrient-rich feed 2.5.5.3 Energy Recoverystreams are mixed with magnesium chloride, and if Recovery of energy from high strength biodegradablenecessary, sodium hydroxide and are then fed into the wastewater through anaerobic digestion is anPearl reactor forming pellets with sizes ranging from established technology. As for domestic wastewater,1.0 mm to 3.5 mm. In a sewage treatment plant, up to recovery of energy through sludge anaerobic digestion90% of the phosphorus and 40% of the ammonia load is also common (Kalogo and Monteith, 2008).is removed from sludge dewatering liquid using this Emerging technologies include microbial fuel cellsprocess and the resulting product is marketed as a (MFCs), algal biofuel, gasification, pyrolysis, andcommercial fertilizer called Crystal Green®. anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) for low Thermo Energy’s CAST® wastewater treatment strength wastewater (WEF, 2011; Smith et al., 2012;and recovery systems offers a low-cost, sustainable Lin et al., 2013).solution that is capable of recovering up to 99% of the Out of these options, MFCs is the new technologyprocess chemistry and metals in process wastewater of generating electrical power directly fromsuch as glycol, BODs, acids/bases, ammonia, wastewater. The MFCs feed on the organic matterchromium, copper, zinc, nickel or other transition in the wastewater by disintegrating it and in themetals (http://www.thermoenergy.com). It also offers process produce electrical current. Equipped witha Zero Liquid Discharge System that can separate an anode and a cathode chamber, MFCs can alsoprocess chemicals and impurities in wastewater be used to generate hydrogen gas from wastewaterstreams to recover 100% of the wastewater. The using electrical power as an input. The successfulThermo Energy CAST® system is based on a low- scale-up and commercialisation of this technologyenergy, high-efficiency flash vacuum distillation system can potentially change the energy intensity and thecalled Controlled Atmosphere Separation Technology economics of wastewater treatment.(CAST). The CAST® systems are energy efficient, Algae biofuel production in conjunction witheasy to operate and maintain, and have a small wastewater treatment is a relatively new technology.footprint. While current technology for algal wastewater Nutrient recovery from urine is one of the simple treatment uses facultative ponds, this approach hasbut significant steps in nutrient recovery from sewage. several drawbacks, which include low productivity,Urine only represents just less than 1% by volume of are not amenable to cultivating single algal species,the wastewater but most of the nutrients in sewage are require chemical flocculation or other expensivepresent in the urine (about 80% of the nitrogen and processes for algal harvest, and do not provideat least 50% of the phosphorus) (Ganrot, 2005). The consistent nutrient removal. Studies have been carriednutrients in urine are, therefore, quite concentrated out to develop high rate algal ponds (HRAPs) withand are readily available to plants. Compared with much higher productivities and promote bioflocculationother ‘alternative’ systems, the urine separation settling which may provide low-cost algal harvesttechnology is comparatively simple and has been (Craggs et al., 2011). The daytime addition of CO2adequately tested. The challenge now is to build large- doubles the production hectares to ∼60 tonnes/ perscale systems with a sustainable organisation and year (ha/yr); improves bioflocculation algal harvest;economic incentives for recirculating human urine to and enhances wastewater nutrient removal. However,farmland. further research is required, particularly on the large- Technology is also currently being developed to scale demonstration of wastewater treatment HRAPproduce biodegradable polymers as a by-product algal production and harvest.of biological wastewater treatment (Madkour et al.2013; Akaraonye et al., 2010). The process involvesa specific class of bacteria that feeds on pollutants,and in turn, generate residues with high contents ofpolyhydroxyalkonates (PHAs). The PHAs provide analternative to the polymers produced from fossil fuels.

A Study on the Current Status and Needs Assessment of 25Water Resources Research in Malaysia - Position Paper2.5.6 Conclusion from simple filtration for removal of suspended solidsThe drivers for the development of water and to highly low carbon sophisticated technology forwastewater treatment technology have changed with recovery of energy and materials, as shown in Figuretime from waterborne diseases to the more globally 2.7. The technology development is led by thethreatening issues. Evolution of the treatment developed countries such as Europe, USA and Japantechnologies takes place along with these changes and trailed by the developing countries including Malaysia. Figure 2.7 Evolution of water and wastewater technologies in modern era.2.6 Water Policies and Regulations to ensure that the assessment of water resources research in Malaysia is drafted in accordance to2.6.1 National Water Resources Policy formulation of the Policy’s Core Areas, Thrusts,The formulation of the NWRP for Malaysia provides Targets, Strategies and Strategic Action Plans to beclear directions and strategies in water resources adopted by many stakeholders.management to ensure water security andsustainability for both man and nature. According to 2.6.1.1 Policy Rationalethe Tenth Malaysia Plan, this Policy will set out the The Policy Rationale was tabled at variousmeans and measures to ensure uniformity of existing consultative platforms and this study will adopt similarlegal provisions, institutional mandates and policy rationale to ensure the establishment of a system thatdirections and consolidate the same through effective will gear water resources towards sustainable use asand efficient measures and mechanisms. the following: Bearing in mind that water resources are seen as “The NWRP shall set the strategic direction anda continuous process from their transformation from a framework for strategic action to ensure that watergaseous, liquid or solid form, right up to the effluent, resources are used and developed in a sustainablethe NWRP was not in isolation of existing policy manner to benefit the nation, both people anddirections. This component of study takes great care environment as a whole. It sets out strategies that will

26 A Study on the Current Status and Needs Assessment of Water Resources Research in Malaysia - Position Paperhelp guide water resources stakeholders to structure 2.6.1.3 Policy Principlesactions for effective conservation and management of The discussions have also led to identifying keywater resources. The approach that will be taken will values that will serve as the grounding principles thatbe based on existing integrated approaches that have will guide the implementation, such as follows:been adopted so as to continue and further inculcate Water Resources Securityactions that are concerted and consolidated.” Water resources must be secured to ensure that their availability could cater the demand for both humanThe rationale above seeks to address the following: and environment. Water Resources Sustainability a) The NWRP will set the framework for Water resources is the catalyst for environment and water resources governance – introduce development, and therefore, it should be sustained sustainability and uniformity. for present and future uses and Federal and State Governments will look at optimising and minimising b) The NWRP will benefit the nation. wastage of water resources. It also opens up the opportunity to bolster self-dependency of states, to c) Policy ‘limitations’ (note: protect State not just rely on transfers but to shift towards exploring rights and protect from rights and alternative sources, and address aspects related to tjurisdictional conflicts; protect States in demand management. the event of crisis and disaster; facilitating Partnership assistance overriding State privileges). Stakeholder inclusiveness and collaboration are essential towards ensuring the security and2.6.1.2 Policy Objectives sustainability of water resources as well as the achievement of common goals towards addressingThe proposed draft NWRP is hinged on three key multiple water resources governance concerns andobjectives: priorities. a) To set direction to facilitate uniformed 2.6.1.4 Policy Cores Areas, Thrusts, Strategies and actions towards ensuring water resources Action Plans security and sustainability; Grounding the policy are four core key areas that will help cluster all actions; i.e.: b) To set out mechanisms and identify processes to facilitate concerted actions for a) Policy Key Core Area 1: Water Resources water resources security and sustainability; Security and b) Policy Key Core Area 2: Water Resources c) To establish mechanisms for partnership Sustainability between multiple stakeholders and means for stakeholder engagement. c) Policy Key Core Area 3: Partnerships The objectives are self-explanatory, the first looksat consolidating the ‘what and how’; the secondsets out to structure uniformed approaches andmeans; and the third provides means for partnershipestablishment. d) Policy Key Core Area 4: Capacity Building

A Study on the Current Status and Needs Assessment of 27Water Resources Research in Malaysia - Position Paper2.6.1.5 Implementation Plan resources.It is intention here that the policy be implemented h) To strengthen measures for preparednessthrough a stakeholder partnership arrangement; and response as well as reduction of risksnamely, helmed by the Ministry of Natural Resources and threats from disasters;and Environment (NRE) Malaysia that serves asa secretariat to the NWRC, and with the principle i) To establish uniformed measure andfunction under its Ministerial mandate, water guidelines;resources management and conservation. It is alsoimportant to note that water resources makes up a j) To determine priority of water resourcescomponent in natural resources and serves as the use;catalyst for environmental integrity, both which areareas within the NRE purview. As stated earlier, the k) To protect and maintain condition andNWRP is a time bound policy matched to the Malaysia State of water bodies;Development Plans time line, and revisions can beinstituted focusing on any aspect be it core area, l) To develop and establish economicthrusts, targets, strategies or action plans. instruments and measures to value water resources;2.6.1.6 The National Water Resource Policy Targets m) To ensure optimum water quality and yield;The NWRP is designed to achieve the following n) To provide mechanisms for formal andtargets: informal consultation on matters related to water resources;a) To develop a comprehensive information o) To enhance stakeholder collaboration in system on, about and for water resources; water resources governance;b) To strengthen database framework, p) To build capacity of key water resources software support, roster of trained experts; stakeholders; andc) To improve and shift towards q) To improve understanding and awareness standardisation of multiple scientific on the importance of water resources processes and methods related to security and sustainability. evaluation and analysis of State, status and condition of water resources; 2.6.2 Relationship Between the National Water Resource Policy and Existing Water Resourcesd) To set national standards to determine Related Policies thresholds for water resources to protect The formulation of the Core Areas, Thrusts, Targets, resources, its availability and integrity of Strategies and Strategic Action Plans of the NWRP water bodies; to be adopted by the many stakeholders took into consideration existing policies. More than 50 nationale) To reduce vulnerability of water resources policies were reviewed, and of those 17 were identified to impacts and threats as well as as having close links with the various aspects of water strengthen adaptability to ecosystems and resources. As the focus and emphasis of the NWRP, physical changes; it is on providing directions for means and measures. Whereas, the strategic action plans proposed aref) To develop water resources conservation also geared towards complementing the goals of the plans for strategic, sensitive and critical existing policies. Table 2.7 indicates the core areas water resources areas and bodies; and their links with the 17 identified policies.g) To explore options for alternative, conjunctive or contiguous of water

28 A Study on the Current Status and Needs Assessment of Water Resources Research in Malaysia - Position PaperTABLE 2.7 EXAMPLES OF NWRP COMPLEMENTING EXISTING NATIONAL POLICIESCORE AREA THRUST RELATED POLICYWater Resources Security Thrust 1: National Green Technology Policy Water Intelligence National Policy on EnvironmentWater Resources National Physical PlanSustainability Thrust 2: National Policy on Climate Change Water Resources Integrity National Policy on Biological Diversity Third National Agricultural Policy Thrust 3: National Physical Plan Alternative Options for Water National Green Technology Resources Use National Policy on Environment National Food Security Policy Thrust 4: National Timber Industry Policy Disaster Risk Preparedness and National Land Policy Response National Policy on Environment Thrust 5: National Policy on Climate Change Promote Consistent Application National Green Technology Policy of Criteria & Characterisation of National Minerals Policy 2 Water Resources National Energy Policy Thrust 6: National Biofuel Policy Conserve and Protect Water National Policy on Biological Diversity Resources and Bodies, both National Policy on Environment Natural and Artificial National Physical Plan National Policy on Climate Change National Food Safety Policy National Green Technology Policy National Policy on Biological Diversity Third National Agricultural Policy National Green Technology Policy National Policy on Environment National Policy on Biological Diversity National Policy on Climate Change National Physical Plan National Urbanisation Policy National Consumer Policy National Forestry Policy National Solid Waste Management Policy National Tourism Policy National Timber Industry Policy National Food Security Policy National Land Policy

A Study on the Current Status and Needs Assessment of 29Water Resources Research in Malaysia - Position PaperPartnership Thrust 7: National Policy on EnvironmentCapacity Building and Stakeholder Inclusiveness and National Policy on Biological DiversifyAwareness Engagement National Green Technology Policy Thrust 8: National Solid Waste Management Policy Shared Water Resources National Forestry Policy Governance National Environment Policy National Policy on Biological Diversity Thrust 9: National Urbanisation Policy Capacity Building and National Physical Plan Awareness Third National Agricultural Policy National Minerals Policy 2 National Green Technology Policy National Solid Waste Management Policy National Education Policy National Biotechnology Policy

30 A Study on the Current Status and Needs Assessment of Water Resources Research in Malaysia - Position Paper2.6.3 Other Laws and Regulations related to Water law for regulating water supply services and sewerageResources Management in Malaysia services and for related matters in the country. TheThe project team also worked on regulations existing review on this law is not completed yet. However, thein Malaysia for surface and groundwater management. project team has summarised the literary definitions ofMalaysia’s Water Services Industry Act 2006 provides these terms (see Table 2.8).TABLE 2.8 SUMMARY OF BASIC LEGAL CONCEPTS AND SCOPE OF WATER LEGISLATIONCustomary (Unwritten) Custom is considered to be established by:Law • Consistent repetition of a given conduct by many members of the communityLegislation (Written Law) • Conviction of the community that such conduct corresponds to a ‘legal rule’ Legislation, taking account of custom as accepted social behaviour, encompasses:Water Legislation • The fundamental law or constitution of a country • Laws enacted by the legislation body (parliament, national assembly) • Subsidiary legislation (decree or instruments adopted by the government executive) laws enacted by the legislative body may not repeal constitutional provisions, and in turn may not be repealed or contradicted by subsidiary legislation Aims to regulate the relationship between persons (physical and legal) and between the people and the State administration on water resources; it includes all legal provisions on development, use, protection and management of groundwater resources, which may be either scattered in various enactments or integrated into a comprehensive water lawThe project team also critically evaluated the existing What are the impact of alternative water policies onwater-related policies on these questions: water-dependent ecosystems, including forest-water interactions and wetlands; and on water quality, a) What are the impacts of alternative including agricultural effluents such as fertilizer water policies on income generation and and pesticides, and household and industrial water resource security? pollution? b) What are the impacts of alternative water policies on supply and demand for water in agriculture, household and industrial uses? c) What are the impacts of alternative water policies on food production and security?

A Study on the Current Status and Needs Assessment of 31Water Resources Research in Malaysia - Position PaperElfithri (2012) summarised some of the main water-related laws and regulations introduced by the Federal andState Governments of Malaysia, as shown in Figure 2.8.:Figure 2.8 Water-related laws and regulations in Malaysia.Source: Elfithri, 2012Mokhtar et al. (2013) listed important water resources The laws and regulations related to water resourcesrelated laws and regulations stipulated by the Federal as introduced by the State Governments are asand State Governments, which are: follows:• Environmental Quality Act, 1974• Land Conservation Act, 1960 • The Drainage Works Act, 1954• Irrigation Areas Act, 1953• Fisheries Act, 1985 • Irrigation Areas Act, 1953 (Revised in 1989)• Town and Country Planning Act, 1976• National Forestry Act, 1984 • The National Land Code, 1965• Mineral Development Act, 1994• Water Services Industry Act, 2006 • Land Conservation Act, 1960• National Park Act, 1980 • Waters Act 1920 (Revised in 1989) • The Forest Act, 1984 • Water Supply Enactments, 1955 • Selangor Waters Management Authority Enactment 1999 • Protection of Wildlife Act, 1972

32 A Study on the Current Status and Needs Assessment of Water Resources Research in Malaysia - Position Paper• National Parks Act, 1980 • Geological Survey Act 1974 • Pesticides Act, 1974• Town and Country Planning Act, 1976 • Pesticides (Registration) Rules, 2005 • Pesticides (Exemption) Order, 2004• The Fisheries Act, 1985 • Pig Framing Enactment • Sewerage Services Act, 1993• Fisheries Maritime Regulations, 1967 (Amended in1987) 2.6.4 Relevant Regulations and Guidelines Several Acts were enacted to protect water resources• Merchant Shipping (Exemption) Order, 1961 in the country. Table 2.9 listed some of the available Acts for water management in Malaysia. Notably• Poisons Act 1952 some states have more laws than the others. The list shows that these Acts are enacted on a case-by-case• Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases basis. Hence, now and then, in several occasions they Act, 1988 overlap with each other.• Environmental Quality Act, 1974• Local Government Act, 1976• Street, Drainage and Building Act, 1974• Mining Enactment, 1929 TABLE 2.9 RELEVANT WATER ACTS AND GUIDELINES Acts and Guidelines ResponsibilitiesWater Act 1920 Only applies to the States of Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, Perak, Selangor, Melaka, Penang andWater Supply Enactment (1955) Federal Territory - The provisions cover property of rivers, restoration,Environmental Quality Act (1974) prohibition of diversions and pollution, licensing, penalties andWater Supply ( Territory of Kuala compensation. An Act to provide the control of rivers and streams.Lumpur), (Act 581) Empower State water authorities in supplying water to domestic andNational Water Services Commission commercial users. Only serves as a regulatory body to oversee operations(SPAN), Act 2006 of supply company and ensure compliance with drinking water standards.Water Services Industry Act (Act 655) No legal power to enforce compliance from the companies or for them to initiate corrective actions. Prevent, abate, control of pollution and enhancement of the environment. The water supply and distribution of water in Selangor is applied to the Federal of Kuala Lumpur with modifications. To transfer water supply services from the State List to the Concurrent List. Its vision is towards sustainable, reliable and affordable water services for all. To regulate and supervise water supply and sewerage services, enforce water supply and sewerage services laws and related matters. To provide and regulate water supply services and sewerage services and incidental matters thereto.

A Study on the Current Status and Needs Assessment of 33Water Resources Research in Malaysia - Position PaperThe legislative approach in water quality management 2.6.5 Policy Gapusing the Environmental Quality Act 1974 has been In Malaysia, environmental policy still lags behindsuccessful in reducing pollution to a certain extent. other pressing issue such as the industrialIt has involved pollution control, prevention and development (Pierce, 2006). The public lackcontinuous assessment (monitoring) of the river awareness on environmental issues and tend toenvironment. There are still many challenges that leave all the responsibilities to the government. Sinceneed to be addressed to achieve a holistic water Malaysia achieved its independence, water policiesquality management. were made by individual states on ad-hoc basis. Under the tenth Malaysia Plan (2011-2015) There is no centralised or standardised water policyimprovements and enhancement to the quality or guideline for States to adopt. As a result, there areof service and coverage to ensure sustainability numerous Acts and guidelines on water managed byfrom both an operational as well as environment multiple agencies. In 2002, the National Policy on theperspective are planned: Environment was established. It intends to enhanceDeveloping a long-term strategy for water resource societal quality of life through sustainable economy,management to achieve water security which runs parallel with social and cultural progress (Shah et al., 2009). However, the policy is too general a) The National Water Resources Policy without any specific details in each of its section. It (NWRP), currently being formulated by is not clear and thus could not be implemented by the Ministry of Natural Resources and relevant departments. Environment Ministry, will chart the future Good water governance is therefore needed in course for the water sector. Malaysia to handle water problems complexity, for a Improving pollution control targeting main better or efficient water use and management. It is sources of pollution also to ensure economic, social and environmental sustainability (Sampford, 2007; Shah et al., 2009). a) More than 90% of Malaysia’s water supply However, in implementing good water governance, comes from rivers and streams - efforts to legislation becomes the central mechanisms (MOSTE, tackle river pollution given due emphasis. 2002; Ahmad Fariz et al., 2009). The legal instrument would then support the water policies, programmes b) River pollution is due largely to an increase or projects. It also allows the development of in the number of sources of pollution water resources management and water services and a decrease in the amount of rainfall sustainably. Ethical frameworks are also necessary — improper discharge from sewerage to address water issues such as allocation of water treatment plants, agro-based factories, resource, efficiency, productivity and valuation. livestock farming, land clearing activities Government agencies and State authorities should and domestic sewage. collaborate more and draw up State and national regulations to ensure proper and sustainable The National Green Technology policy which was utilisation.launched on 24th of July 2009 under the Ministry Wolf and Stanley (2011) added that law performedof Energy, Green Technology and Water (KeTTHA) on behalf of the environment and local authoritiesincorporated Water and Waste Management under should have preventive, remedial and compensatoryone of its four sectors. Under this policy, the Adoption functions. The water management needs to be underof Green Technology in the management and a single entity, with improved planning and continuedutilisation of water resources, wastewater treatment, attention. Unifying water-related activities under onesolid waste and sanitary landfill is promoted however, ministry or agency are also a good alternative for goodthere is no direct elaboration and emphasise in terms water governance (Melati, 2010). Ahmad Fariz et al.of the type of technologies for water or wastewater (2009) pointed that the communities, industries andtreatment to be preferred towards achieving the stakeholders should be made aware of the importanceaim of this policy, which is to reduce the emission of of water and take part to protect the natural resource.greenhouse gases.

34 A Study on the Current Status and Needs Assessment of Water Resources Research in Malaysia - Position PaperAccording to MOSTE (2002), well trained monitoring The first National Science and Technology Policyand enforcement officers are also required to (NTSP1) was established in 1986 and spanned up toeffectively manage and enforce water issues. 1989. The policy was installed to promote scientific2.6.6 Other Policies and Initiatives and technological self-reliance in support of economic activates through the enhancement of research2.6.6.1 National Science and Technology Policy and development capabilities. Under this policy, a conducive environment and infrastructure was createdThe policies on science and technology (S&T) in to nurture scientific creativity and education.Malaysia were established to promote the utilisation The NTSP1 was followed by the Industrialof science and technology as a tool for economic Technology Development: A National Action Plan,development and the improvement of people and which ran from 1990 to 2001. The Plan wasphysical well-being. The development of these formulated focusing on three thrusts — strengtheningpolicies is led by the Ministry of Science, Technology institutions and support infrastructure for technologicaland Innovation (MOSTI) (http://nitc.mosti.gov.my/ development, ensuring diffusion and application ofnitc_beta/index.php/national-ict-policies/science-a- technology, and elevating science and technologytechnology-sat-policy). As of now, three policies have public awareness.been established spanning from 1986 to 2012. The The Second National Science and Technologyvision, policy statement, goal and objectives of these Policy (NSTP2) was formulated in 2002 and ran untilpolicies are as follows: 2012. The NSTP2 provides a framework for improved performance and long-term growth of the MalaysianVision: To establish Malaysia as a nation economy with the following aims: that is competent, confident and innovative in harnessing, utilising and a) To enhance national capability and advancing S&T towards achieving capacity for R&D, technology development the goals of vision 2020. and acquisition;Statement: Maximise the utilisation and b) To promote partnerships betweenpublic advancement of S&T as a tool for funded organisations andi ndustries; sustaining economic development, the improvement of quality of life and c) To accelerate the transformationof national security. knowledge into value added products, processes, services or solutions;Goal: Accelerate the development of S&T capability and capacity for national d) To position Malaysia as at echnology competitiveness. provider in keys trategic knowledge industries;Objectives: e) To foster societal values andattitudes thata) To increase R&D spending to at least recognise science and technology as 1.5 per cent of Gross Domestic Product critical to futurep rosperity; (GDP) by year 2010 in an effort to enhance national capacity in R&D; and f) To utilise science and technology that are in conformity withs ustainable development;b) To achieve a competent work force of at and least 60 RSEs (researchers, scientists and engineers) per 10,000 labour force by the g) To develop new knowledge-based year 2010 in order to enhance national industries. capability in S&T

A Study on the Current Status and Needs Assessment of 35Water Resources Research in Malaysia - Position Paper Due to limited resources, the allocation of the MOSTI has been reported to be working on theresources is closely aligned to national priorities for third National Science, Technology and Innovationthe country’s transformation into a knowledge-driven Policy (NSTIP), which was supposed to come intoeconomy so as to maximise economic and social effect in 2013 (http://www.nst.com.my/nation/extras/r-returns. Therefore, the NTSP2 addresses seven key d-accelerating-development-of-science-technology-priorities areas, each with its own specific initiatives and-innovation-1.98008). The new NSTIP is expected(SI), as follows: to cater to the current dynamic global science, technology and innovation scenario. a) Strengthening research and technological capacity and capability (7 SI); 2.6.6.2 Rainwater Harvesting The “Guidelines for Installing a Rainwater Collection b) Promoting commercialisation of research and Utilisation System”, 1999, can be seen as the outputs (4 SI); initial phase of the rainwater harvesting policy in Malaysia. Introduced by the Ministry of Housing and c) Developing human resource capacity and Local Government after the 1998 drought, it aims capability (13 SI); at reducing the dependency on treated water and provides a convenient buffer in times of emergency d) Promoting a culture of science, innovation or a shortage in water supply. The Guidelines also and techno-entrepreneurship (10 SI); proposes the construction of ‘mini dams’ or rainwater tanks in urban areas instead of continuing to build e) Strengthening institutional framework and giant dams upstream. This may not only conserve management for S&T and monitoring of the treated water but can act as urban flood control. S&T policy implementation (10 SI); Nevertheless, the guidelines is only intended to be a reference for those who want to install the system. f) Ensure widespread diffusion and Five years later, the same Ministry prepared application of technology, leading to another cabinet paper to the National Water enhanced market-driven R&D to adapt and Resources Council to encourage government improve technologies (6 SI); and buildings to install rainwater collection and utilisation system. The Council agreed that rainwater utilisation g) Build competence for specialization in key is to be encouraged, but not mandatory, in all Federal emerging technologies (5 SI). and State government buildings. In addition, the Council stated the need for rainwater utilisation The NSTP2 shows that there has been a steady campaign and to provide a solution to preventincrease in the gross expenditure on R&D (GERD), mosquito breeding in the gutters or tanks. As rainwaterleading to a substantial increase in Malaysia’s harvesting was very alien to many Malaysians then,GERD/GDP from 0.22 per cent in 1996 to 0.82 as well as the fact that most of the system was notper cent in 2008. GERD increased substantially available locally, the implementation of that new policyfrom RM0.55 billion in 1996 to RM6.07 billion in was not really successful (Rahman et al., 2010).2008 (http://www.nst.com.my/nation/extras/r-d- The most encouraging development for theaccelerating-development-of-science-technology-and- success of rainwater harvesting in Malaysia cameinnovation-1.98008). about after the announcement by the government to In terms of human resource in R&D in Malaysia, in make it mandatory in March 27, 2007. Despite the2008, there was a total of 40,840 research personnel fact that it will only apply to large buildings such aswhich comprised of researchers, technicians, and factories, schools or bungalows, it is certainly a rightsupport staff; the highest recorded so far. Of this total, step towards having more sustainable building in77 per cent were researchers, followed by technicians Malaysia. The government has finally come to realise(6.6 per cent) and support staff (16.4 per cent).The that although initial steps were taken since 1999, notresearcher headcount was estimated at 31,442 with aratio of 28.5 researchers per 10,000 workers, showinga significant increase (76.7 per cent) over a period ofseven years — 2002 to 2008.

36 A Study on the Current Status and Needs Assessment of Water Resources Research in Malaysia - Position Papermuch progress has been made in conserving treated increasing numbers of new buildings, especiallywater. It is hoped that by making rainwater harvesting in cities, do put some pressure over the existingmandatory, Malaysia building are more water efficient provision of water supply. Early this year alone, thereand will have less impact on the environment as a have been calls for new dams as well as inter-Statewhole. water supply to support the ever increasing water Be that as it may, compulsory rainwater harvesting demand in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya.has some implications on the existing legal provisions. Besides the high cost involves, these suggestedCompulsory harvesting would involve amendment projects will have a significant impact on theof certain laws since this attracts some planning, environment. If new or existing buildings are equippedenvironmental and health issues. As design and with rainwater harvesting system, they will reduce therequirement of a building are legislated under the dependency over piped and treated water and protectUniform Building By-laws 1984, it will be the most the existing forest from turning into new reservoirs.affected laws in this area (Rahman et al., 2010). Besides being the alternative source of water in cases The proposed amended By-Laws shall require new of water shortage, general public can save moneybuildings to include system installation in the layout by utilising rainwater for their general washing, toiletplan. For a start, it should apply to the large buildings flushing and gardening. The saving will be much moreand it will be the responsibility of the Public Work for large building such as school, factory and shoppingDepartment to refuse applications that do not comply complex.with the new requirements. Nevertheless, this couldbe easier said than done as the developers who will 2.6.6.2.2 Implementation of Rainwater Harvestingpractically implement this new policy might have other in Malaysiaconcerns such as cost and technical issues. Implementation of compulsory rainwater harvesting in Malaysia as announced by the Former Prime2.6.6.2.1 Rainwater Harvesting as a Tool for Minister, Tun Abdullah bin Haji Ahmad Badawi invitesSustainable Water Management opinion from various stakeholders. As a matter of fact,Sustainable water management concentrates on several hundred households in Carey Island whichefficient use of water and more sustainable water has collected rainwater for more than 25 years wouldconsumption behaviour. To this end, it is important to be the best group to comment on this. Their housesintroduce water demand management, establish water have been built with a gutter system that channelsuse policy and design plan for sustainable water use. rainwater from the roof into large water tanks placedThis can be done by integrating water management outside the houses. Water flows from the tanks frominto individual site and building design through attaching the pipes just like treating pipe water. Thethe concept of rainwater harvesting or greywater houses are located in the oil palm estate belongingrecycling. Rainwater harvesting implemented at a to Golden Hope Plantations Bhd that is occupied bymacro level helps to provide stormwater reduction that estate workers and management staff on the estate.prevents flooding downstream and enhance surface According to the President of Malaysian Waterwater quality. The creation of large retention pond and Association, Datuk Syed Muhammad Shahabudinsustainable drainage system incorporate rainwater (2007), the implementation of the rainwater harvestingharvesting concept and also provide landscape system must be done selectively, as not all buildingsamenity for the community. It helps to secure water for could be fitted with the system, as it required airrigation to reduce the urban heat island, reduce the considerable roof size and also room for the storageneed for water transfer between regions and reducing tank (cited in Brenda and Rosmina, 2013). Theclean-up costs from pollution incidents and flood. Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID) and Rainwater harvesting can improve the present The Ministry of Energy, Water and Communicationunsustainable use of water. Almost a third of the (KTAK) are the two government agencies that havetreated water was used for flushing and less than implemented the rainwater harvesting system in theten per cent was used for cooking and drinking. The early stages of implementation. The response of rainwater harvesting system in the beginning is far from encouraging (Shahwahid, 2007).

A Study on the Current Status and Needs Assessment of 37Water Resources Research in Malaysia - Position Paper2.6.6.2.3 Challenges in Implementing Rainwater Therefore, it is important to explore groundwaterHarvesting System resources and exploit them for urban and rural water supplies. This can only be done with proper policiesRahman et al. (2010) identified the following and strategies by practicing sustainable groundwaterchallenges in implementing rainwater harvesting resource management. The groundwater policy,system in Malaysia: regulations and actions must cover the aspects groundwater data collection, setting water quality a) The high capital cost of installing the standards and regulation of groundwater abstraction. rainwater tanks by the developer that will The groundwater policy and regulations should also have to be eventually borne by the house cover areas like groundwater monitoring, identification owners and this will further increase the of pollution sources, designating protection areas and price of the houses in Malaysia; enforcement of standards and regulations. b) Maintenance problems in the long term 2.6.6.5 Mega Science Framework Study period such as cleaning of the choked The Mega Science Framework study for Sustained conveyance pipes, leaves in gutters and National Development (2011-2050) was carried out to periodic pump maintenance; and identify future opportunities that Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) in water sector may provide c) Water-related issues such as polluted to enhance Malaysia’s economic development rainwater from bird faeces, breeding of in domestic, regional and global markets in the mosquitoes which might pose a danger of foreseeable future. The study was conducted through spreading of diseases to the public. several stages which include: a) Assessing current situation;2.6.6.3 National Urbanisation Policy b) Identifying future drivers of change;The National Urbanisation Policy (NUP) developedby the Town of Country Planning and Development c) Linking water STI to sustainable economicin August 2006, in particular stresses that cities development;need to improve water management efficiency whichemphasise on the use of alternative sources and d) Identifying opportunities in each relevantnon-conventional of rainwater harvesting and water economic sector, including internationalrecycling. Under the policy, the relevant agencies and national case studies;for implementation are the Ministry of Technology,Water & Communication (KTAK) , the Water e) Prioritising STI investment opportunities inSupply Department as well as both State and Local a Risk-Return framework;Authorities. f) Describing each recommended STI2.6.6.4 Groundwater Policy and Regulation investment in detail;In Malaysia only 2% of water demand is met by using g) Testing STI investments via a Stakeholdergroundwater. This figure is much lower than compared Workshop; andto Thailand (80%), China (78%), Austria (98%) andDenmark (100%). The use of groundwater can play h) Preparing STI investment roadmaps.a significant role in meeting Malaysia’s water supplydemand and can reduce the impact of drought.

38 A Study on the Current Status and Needs Assessment of Water Resources Research in Malaysia - Position Paper The sectors (besides water) that were included c) Reform Water Education System in Primary,in the analyses are of crucial importance to national Secondary and Tertiary Sectors and Widereconomy and well-being including energy, health, Publicagriculture, forestry and fisheries, biodiversityincluding biosystems, climate change, STI d) Improve ecosystem protection from point andeducation, infrastructure, environment, culture, non-point pollutionhousing, transportation, natural resources, humandevelopment, population, and materials. e) Clean-up and rehabilitate waterways in highly During the initial stage of the study, 70 potential visible locations to improve aesthetics andinvestment opportunities were identified. The list was ecological functioningalso classified into two categories, namely ‘creatingnew wealth’ and ‘sustaining the resource’. These f) Irrigation water use efficiencywere short-listed to 20 through prioritisation basedon potential significance of the STI opportunity to g) Community (including decision-makers,Malaysia. planners, and politicians) values ecosystem services for MalaysiaThe 10 opportunities categorised under ‘creating newwealth’ are as follows: h) Advanced water and wastewater treatment a) Eco-tourism around high ecological value sites i) Wetland ecosystem repair b) Urban water-based tourism c) Market and export high quality water j) Water management planning to improve d) Clean water for aquaculture Industry resilience with uncertain climate future e) Malaysian brand for domestic water The details of each list are provided in the study purification unit which includes its description, risk-return analysis, f) World leading tropical aquatic research and benchmarking against similar initiatives in Malaysia and abroad, specific potential projects and investment education Roadmap. Each Roadmap consists of a timeline g) Knowledge export of proposed investments, enablers (e.g. visioning, h) Tapping urban water policy, administration, governance) and outcomes that i) Rainwater harvesting are anticipated within a specific period of time. The timeline segments are mostly the same for each STI opportunity (i.e. 2010-2015, 2015-2020, 2020-2030, 2030-2040, and 2040-2050). j) Zero pollutant discharge 2.6.7 The Role of Stakeholders in Water Policies The 10 opportunities categorised under ‘sustaining 2.6.7.1 Definition, Goals and Levels ofthe resource’ are as follows: Stakeholders Engagement Ertel (2007) defines ‘stakeholder’ as “any person, a) Exploit groundwater further as a resource and or group, who has an interest in the project or could drought protection be potentially affected by its delivery or outputs.” Stakeholders should be engaged as early as b) Improve flood forecasting and mitigation

A Study on the Current Status and Needs Assessment of 39Water Resources Research in Malaysia - Position Paperpossible, and this has been considered as essential Clarksons’ (1995) ‘primary’ and ‘secondary’. Havingfor high quality and durable decisions (Chess and a clear definition of stakeholders and the differentPurcell, 1999; and Reed et al., 2009). Many scholars categories of stakeholders, it is important to havecategorise stakeholders into different groups, a good understanding on what level of stakeholdersuch as Blair and Whitehead’s (1998) ‘potential engagement is actually being sought. Stakeholderfor collaboration’ and ‘potential for threatening’, engagement can be broadly categorised into theGoodpaster’s (1991) ‘fiduciary’ and ‘non-fiduciary’, and following (Table 2.10).Inform TABLE 2.10 LEVELS OF STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT AND GOALSConsultInvolve To provide the public with balanced and objective information to assist them inCollaborate understanding the problem and opportunities.Empower To obtain public feedback for decision-makers to make decisions acceptable to all stakeholders. To work directly with the public throughout the process to ensure that public concerns are taken into account in the decision making process. To partner with the public in each aspect of the decision including the development of alternatives and the identification of the preferred solution. To place final decision-making in the hands of the public. All these five different levels of stakeholder comparatively long history of practice (e.g. Australia),engagement need to be reviewed to see at which it is unclear to practitioners how to match ‘what welevel the stakeholders should be involved in managing want from stakeholders and the many ways in whichwater resources in Malaysia. The project team intends people can participate’ (Dovers, 2000). Yang et al.to review all these levels of stakeholder engagement (2011) have developed a long list of methods appliedand propose the best one for the Malaysian in stakeholder engagement.conditions. Later, different types of methods forstakeholder engagement focusing on water resources 2.6.7.2 Different Types of Stakeholdersmanagement could be prioritised according to their Partridge et al. (2005) had divided different typessuitability for managing water resources in Malaysia. of stakeholders into two broad categories; namely,We emphasise that the selection of stakeholder primary and secondary types of stakeholders (Figureengagement methods requires knowledge about 2.9). Figure 2.9 illustrates the relationship betweenthe methods that are available and which are best research activities and the stakeholders.used for which purpose. The knowledge availableis not yet comprehensive. Even in such countrieswhere stakeholder engagement methods have a

40 A Study on the Current Status and Needs Assessment of Water Resources Research in Malaysia - Position PaperFigure 2.9 Typical Primary and Secondary Stakeholders.Source: Partridge et al., 20052.6.7.3 Types of Stakeholders in Water Resources often neglected in the public policy-making process.There are three major stakeholder groups in water Likewise, the policy-makers often lose their credibilityresources. These groups comprise of scientists, since the public policy they generate lacks thepolicy-makers, and resource managers. Each of these scientific background that has to be tapped from thegroups have their own role in solving water resource scientific community. In addition, in the developingproblems but often the various approaches do not countries institutional weakness due to lack of capacitynecessarily complement each other. Weaknesses of is very common and this contributes to the difficultyeach stakeholder group of water resources are shown of implementing, monitoring and evaluating anyin Figure 2.10. policies. On the other hand, the resource managers Scientists are usually preoccupied with their often simply follow their own business-orienteddisciplinary orientation, and as a result, are often agenda. Their motives are short-term benefits withoutinsensitive to the scale and scope of the problems. consideration of the potential of long-term sustainableIn as much so that their efforts often lack relevance development objectives (Bonell and Bruijnzeel, 2005).to public policy development. Most scientists are not The role of stakeholders in water resourcesaware of relevant policy questions. Consequently, management can be unearthed by answering thetheir excellent and important research findings are questions such as: “How different stakeholders are affected by changes in environmental conditions

A Study on the Current Status and Needs Assessment of 41Water Resources Research in Malaysia - Position PaperFigure 2.10 Weaknesses of major stakeholders in water resources.and freshwater pollution?”; “How can stakeholders the decision makers and not their involvement in mainconsensus be built around water resources process of the decision-making. This is an timewornmanagement issues, including reducing non-revenue way of thinking: stakeholders are only notified of thewater (NRW)?” and “How to effectively engage decision; the traditional ways of posting survey formsdifferent stakeholders in watershed management without proper consultation and face-to-face contactactivities?” are employed; and stakeholder engagement is not In Malaysia, stakeholder engagement can rarely included in the definition of ‘stakeholder engagement’been seen except in minor scale in irrigation project in their studies. This is the main issue which breakswhere pilot testing usually include farmers to test the trust between stakeholders and the project managersefficiency of the project given. However, in defining and decision makers which likely may result in partialstakeholder engagement concept in those studies, or complete failure of the projects. We are, thus,the engagement defined as the engagement which investigating this issue in detail in this study.required ideas and thought exchanges betweenvarious types of stakeholders and stakeholders with

42 A Study on the Current Status and Needs Assessment of Water Resources Research in Malaysia - Position PaperChapter 3Review of Past& Current WaterR&D3.1 Introduction to institutions of higher learning, whereas governmentIn this section, the trends in water research are agencies, universities and private companies aremeasured by examining the research input and output. eligible for MOSTI’s. The funding information for thisThe research inputs are determined by analysing study has been provided by Malaysian Science andthe funding information acquired from the Ministry of Technology Information Centre (MASTIC) and MinistryScience, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) and of Education (MOE). The raw data has been tabulatedMinistry of Education (MOE). Acquiring the award according to the awarded institution, award year anddate and the recipients enabled us to examine the organised with reference to the 8th, 9th and tenthhistorical research trends. The outputs are measured Malaysian Plans whenever available (Table 3.1 andsolely on publications as a quantitative measure of Table 3.2).research. Academic literatures indexing services have The awarded grant are categorised accordingbeen used to measure the productivity of scientific to research theme categories (i.e. biodiversity,publications. climate change, drainage, energy, pollution, water management and others), geological and source3.2 Funding Trends in Water Research classification of the water (i.e. coast, island, lake, rain,Institutions of higher learning in Malaysia generally river, waste and undefined) and the type of researchrely on the local and Federal government for their (i.e. science, technology and social) (Figure 3.1 andresearch funding. In Malaysia, two of the biggest Figure 3.2).ministry providing funds are the Ministry of Education(MOE) and the Ministry of Science, Technology andInnovation (MOSTI). MOE’s grants are opened only

A Study on the Current Status and Needs Assessment of 43Water Resources Research in Malaysia - Position PaperTABLE 3.1 THE ANNUAL DISTRIBUTION OF RESEARCH GRANTS BY MOSTI ACCORDING TO RECEIVING INSTITUTIONSNo. Name of Institutions 8th MP 9th MP 10th MP Total 1 Universiti Teknologi Malaysia 13 11 1 25 2 Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 5 17 2 24 3 Universiti Putra Malaysia 5 12 4 21 4 Universiti Sains Malaysia 9 7 2 18 5 Universiti Malaysia Terengganu 2 7 1 10 6 Universiti Malaya 2 5 1 8 7 Universiti Teknologi MARA 2 4 0 6 8 Universiti Tenaga Nasional/Malaysia 2 3 0 5 9 Universiti Islam Antarabangsa 1 3 0 410 Universiti Malaysia Sabah 0 3 1 411 Agensi Nuklear Malaysia 1 2 0 312 SIRIM 2 1 0 313 Universiti Malaysia Sarawak 2 1 0 314 Forest Research Institute of Malaysia 0 2 0 215 MARDI 1 0 1 216 Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman 0 1 1 217 CEMS Engineering Sdn Bhd 0 1 0 118 Logamahir (M) Sdn Bhd 0 1 0 119 Hydrogen Energen Technology Sdn. Bhd. 1 0 0 120 Omega Synergy Sdn Bhd 0 1 0 121 Pending Makmur Sdn Bhd 0 1 0 122 Jabatan Pengairan dan Saliran 1 0 0 123 Universiti Tun Hussein Malaysia 0 1 0 124 Universiti Malaysia Perlis 0 1 0 125 Universiti Malaysia Pahang 0 1 0 126 Universiti Teknologi Petronas 1 0 0 127 University of Nottingham Malaysia 0 1 0 128 International Medical University 0 1 0 1 50 88 14 152 TotalNote: It is arranged from the highest to the lowest with the total number awarded per annum at the bottom and the totalawarded per institution and its percentage at the far right. Each cell is highlights the number of project per institution per yearas a progressive band to assist visualisation. The period within 8th Malaysian (2001-2005) are coloured blue, 9th MalaysianPlan (2006-2010) in orange and the Tenth Malaysian Plan (2011-15) in red.

44 A Study on the Current Status and Needs Assessment of Water Resources Research in Malaysia - Position PaperAnalyses of the MOSTI grants data show that operational behaviour for funding bodies as theResearch University (RU) received 63% of the amount of funds available is the highest during theresearch projects awarded from 2001 to 2011 early phases and recedes in time as it is awarded.(total of 96 research projects). Universiti Teknologi Analyses of the MOE data revealed that from 7428Malaysia (UTM) received the highest number of research grants awarded since the Eighth Malaysianresearch projects, followed by Universiti Kebangsaan Plan to the most recent in 2013, only 248 or 3% wereMalaysia (UKM), Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) related to water. UTM obtained the highest numberand Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM). UTM and USM of MOE grant in total (51), followed by UMT (41),showed a consistent trend with at least one project UPM (29), USM (28), UITM (23) and UM (17). Theawarded annually by MOSTI. In comparison, other dominance of RUs is broken with the inclusion ofRUs such as UKM and UPM showed only intermittent UMT and UITM in the top five grant receivers. UMTsuccess in receiving research funding. However, received 21 (50%) of their grants in 2007 and hassince the detailed financial data is not available for continually received a relatively high number annually,each grant due to confidentiality concerns, these mostly on research topics related to the coastline.patterns will not reflect the financial quantum of these Overall, the highest number of research grantsgrants. Small recurring awards may imply small related to water research was awarded in the 9thresearch projects while singular awards followed by Malaysia Plan by MOHE (159 projects) and MOSTIabsence of subsequent funding may suggest a large (88 projects). The majority of the research grantsand significant research grant awards amounting from MOHE were awarded to topics in Science (166),to millions that are then disbursed via institutional Engineering (63) and followed by Social Sciencesmechanism to research peers in the same institutions. (21) (Table 3.3). The research level are mostlyThe distribution of research grants are also evidently fundamental (207) with ERGS (24), LRGS (11) andbiased towards established university with significant PRGS (8). The geographical focus of the water sourcecritical mass of researchers. Among the top 10 of the research projects are almost evenly distributedreceiving institutions, nine are Institutes of higher between Waste, Undefined, River and Coast withlearning (IHL) with only Agensi Nuklear Malaysia Island and Lake related research significantly undermaking the list at no 10 with three projects. The data studied. Certain universities seems to focus onalso showed that the trend of awarding research specific source; UMT on the coast and UTM ongrants is the highest during the early years upon the wastewater.inception of each Malaysian Plan. This is a normal

A Study on the Current Status and Needs Assessment of 45Water Resources Research in Malaysia - Position PaperTABLE 3.2: THE ANNUAL DISTRIBUTION OF RESEARCH GRANTS BY MOHE ACCORDING TO RECEIVING INSTITUTIONSNo University 8th Malaysia Plan 2006 9th Malaysia Plan 2010 10th Malaysia Plan Total % 2002 2003 2004 2005 2007 2008 2009 2011 2012 2013 1 Universiti Teknologi Malaysia 20.6 2 Universiti Malaysia Terengganu 17 6 2 10 5 11 51 16.5 3 Universiti Putra Malaysia 11.7 4 Universiti Sains Malaysia 21 2 1 6 5 6 41 11.3 5 Universiti Teknologi MARA 9.3 6 Universiti Malaya 85 3562 29 6.9 7 Universiti Malaysia Sabah 4.8 8 Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia 11 181 12 4 28 4.4 9 Universiti Malaysia Perlis 3.610 Universiti Malaysia Pahang 10 2911 23 2.411 Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2.012 Universiti Malaysia Sarawak 3 2 1 2 2 2 4 1 17 1.613 Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris 1.614 Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka 6212 1 12 1.215 Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia 0.816 Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin 16 112 11 0.417 Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia 0.418 Universiti Malaysia Kelantan 3 222 9 0.4 Annual Total 1 11 36 32 5 1111 4 22 4 1 23 22 11 11 11 1 1 4 2 11 81 15 10 42 39 41 1 248Note: It is arranged from the highest to the lowest with the total number awarded per annum at the bottom and the totalawarded per institution and its percentage at the far right. Each cell is highlights the number of project per institution per yearas a progressive band to assist visualisation. The years within 8th Malaysian (2001-2005) are coloured green, 9th MalaysianPlan (2006-2010) in blue, and the Tenth Malaysian Plan (2010-2013) in red.

46 A Study on the Current Status and Needs Assessment of Water Resources Research in Malaysia - Position PaperTABLE 3.3: THE NUMBER OF GRANTS AWARDED ACCORDING TO THE TYPE OF RESEARCH AREA; ENGINEERING, SCIENCE AND SOCIAL SCIENCESRank University ENGINEERING SCIENCE SOCIAL 36 01 Universiti Teknologi Malaysia 15 29 4 19 32 Universiti Malaysia Terengganu 8 16 4 16 53 Universiti Putra Malaysia 7 12 1 7 34 Universiti Sains Malaysia 8 6 0 8 05 Universiti Teknologi MARA 3 4 0 2 16 Universiti Malaya 4 4 0 4 07 Universiti Malaysia Sabah 2 0 0 1 08 Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia 5 1 0 0 09 Universiti Malaysia Perlis 2 1 0 166 2110 Universiti Malaysia Pahang 211 Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 212 Universiti Malaysia Sarawak 013 Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris 014 Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka 315 Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia 116 Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin 017 Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia 118 Universiti Malaysia Kelantan 0 TOTAL 63 TABLE 3.4 THE NUMBER OF GRANTS AWARDED ACCORDING TOTHE TYPE OF RESEARCH FUNDING; ERGS, FRGS, LRGS AND PRGSRank University ERGS FRGS LRGS PRGS 1 Universiti Teknologi Malaysia 2 Universiti Malaysia Terengganu 4 42 3 2 3 Universiti Putra Malaysia 4 Universiti Sains Malaysia 6 35 0 0 5 Universiti Teknologi MARA 6 Universiti Malaya 4 24 1 0 7 Universiti Malaysia Sabah 8 Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia 1 22 4 1 9 Universiti Malaysia Perlis 10 Universiti Malaysia Pahang 1 23 0 0 11 Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 12 Universiti Malaysia Sarawak 0 14 0 3 13 Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris 14 Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka 1 11 0 0 15 Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia 16 Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin 1 10 0 0 17 Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia 18 Universiti Malaysia Kelantan 0811 TOTAL 0600 3011 1300 0400 1200 0200 1000 0010 0100 24 207 11 8

A Study on the Current Status and Needs Assessment of 47Water Resources Research in Malaysia - Position PaperTABLE 3.5: THE NUMBER OF GRANTS AWARDED ACCORDING TO THE TYPE OF GEOGRAPHICAL SOURCE OF WATER; COAST, ISLAND, LAKE, RIVER, UNDEFINED AND WASTERank University COAST ISLAND LAKE RAIN RIVER UNDEFINED WASTE 1 Universiti Teknologi Malaysia 7 2 Universiti Malaysia Terengganu 700 3 11 11 15 3 Universiti Putra Malaysia 2 4 Universiti Sains Malaysia 17 3 0 5 10 5 3 5 Universiti Teknologi MARA 1 6 Universiti Malaya 520 0 686 7 Universiti Malaysia Sabah 0 8 Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia 400 0 739 9 Universiti Malaysia Perlis 2 10 Universiti Malaysia Pahang 312 1 575 11 Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 0 12 Universiti Malaysia Sarawak 600 0 263 13 Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris 1 14 Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka 320 0 241 15 Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia 1 16 Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin 100 0 235 17 Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia 1 18 Universiti Malaysia Kelantan 100 0 025 TOTAL 24 100 004 000 131 400 000 001 110 100 020 000 100 000 010 000 000 000 100 53 8 3 49 56 57 Research institutions have been participating 3.3 Publishing Trends in Water Researchin water research in Malaysia. Institutions such as The trend of water publications was determined usingForest Research Institute (FRIM) and The Malaysian quantitative methods established in bibliographicAgricultural Research and Development Institute, analysis. The quantitative method used is a “neutral(MARDI) have been awarded research grants by means of measure”, which is unlikely to be corruptedMOSTI. The National Hydraulic Research Institute by human perceptions of reputation. Using aof Malaysia (NAHRIM) for example has conducted bibliometric analysis of research publications, we had40 water-related research projects since 2001 using removed personal bias and local perspective, hencedirectly awarded research funds as well as various generating a comprehensive and a ‘top-down’ reviewother joint inter-governmental research projects. One of the area of interest. Peer review, undoubtedly, hasexample of an inter-governmental research projects is to remain the procedure of quality judgement but peerthe FRIM-Forestry Department of Peninsular Malaysia review and other related expert-based judgements(FDPM) joint project on monitoring water quality and have disadvantages. Opinions of peers may bevaluing hydrological function in forest reserves in influenced by subjectivity, narrow-mindedness and2012. Various agencies and research institutions do limited cognitive horizons. This dependence mayconduct collaborative research but information on result in conflicts of interests, quality unawareness, orthese projects is kept internally and is only available a negative bias against newcomers to the researchlater in annual reports or media releases. Such area. In addition to providing alternative perspective,information on water research activities should be in terms of research trend of a topic of interest,captured early on and managed by a lead agency that bibliometric analysis provides direct measurementcan them share the knowledge within the research to authors’ and institutions’ performance in scientificecosystem and potentially reduce redundancy in water community (research outputs). Most importantly,research. such results from bibliometric analysis enable funding agencies to justify the research budget well spent.

48 A Study on the Current Status and Needs Assessment of Water Resources Research in Malaysia - Position Paper Bibliometric analysis has been applied to various and Zainab, 2010). In terms of preference, WOS isresearches related to water. Hagendijk and Smeenk the more sought-after index as it is also the de-facto(1989) reported their case study on Dutch freshwater owner of the “performance index” known as the impactecology back in 1989 and strongly suggested that factor (IF). Impact factor is arguably one the mostbibliometric (among others) helps in understanding the important criteria any author looks for; be it for citationintellectual continuity of researchers with relevance purposes, reference purposes or publication purposes.to science policy. Zhang et al. (2010) adopted a However, SCOPUS offered breadth as it hasbibliometric study on global wetland researches with approximately 20% or more coverage than WOS.a detailed analysis on the keywords used; and hence, In addition, alternative indexing services are nowthe temporal trends of the researches. Researches available in Google Scholar. Specifically, the majoron drinking water were also mapped (Fu et al., 2013; difference between Google Scholar and WOS/Hu et al., 2010) using bibliometric approach in which SCOPUS is that the index of most (if not all) of theregional contributions were presented and popular known “scholarly” publications to date, includingjournals were identified. Bibliometric studies in water conference proceedings, technical reports,research are often topics specific (Hu et al., 2010; Fu unpublished articles and legacy publication, even theet al., 2013; Hagendijk and Smeenk, 1989; Zhang hardcopies, are made available for free. Coverage ofet al., 2010) or journals specific (Wang et al., 2010, Google Scholar, in particular, is not known publicly2011) whereas water research is actually a wide although it is speculated that in theory, it coversresearch area covering basic sciences and applied all publications (as long as the publishers do notsciences with major topics such as water resources disallow it from indexing). Though started off withmanagement, alternative energy (hydroelectric), some limitations and lack of coverage, it is shownwastewater treatment and others. that Google Scholar is gaining ground, partly because A more general bibliometric study on water of Google’s (the search engine) popularity. Moreresearch could provide a broader perspective publishers have allowed Google Scholar to indexregarding research trends and focus. Unfortunately, their publications particularly those of conferencebibliometric studies are very much data dependent; proceedings to increase visibility since Googlethe bigger and the more accurate the dataset is, the Scholar’s service is free and easily accessible. Inbetter the results. Efforts have been done by various general, Google Scholar’s dataset might not alterparties in order to index as many publications as the ranking of top academicians and/or institutions,possible. Although general search engines such as the relative ranking in the middle is affected (MehoGoogle serves as a broad starting point for this task, and Yang, 2007). In our study, we highlighted thisthey returns generic web results which may not be of challenge by comparing data mined from Googleparticular interest to scientific communities, hence, Scholar with WOS and SCOPUS on specific waterthe need for highly specialized indexing service. research theme in Malaysia.SCOPUS and Thomson Reuters’s (formerly Institutefor Scientific Information, ISI) collection of services a) SCOPUS as a benchmarking tool. The(including the Journal Citation Reports, Web of initial proposal proposed the use of theScience, Web of Knowledge, etc. http://wokinfo.com, SCOPUS Scival Spotlight http://info.scival.WOS) and Elsevier’s SCOPUS (http://www.scopus. com/spotlight as a benchmarking tool tocom), are known to be two of the most extensive compile all water-related publication inacademic publications indexing services. Datasets scientific journal publications and mapused for bibliometric analysis were mostly mined from the Water R&D publication at nationalISI (Falagas et al., 2006; Nazim and Ahmad, 2008; level. The strength of various institutionsHuet al., 2010; Rajendram et al., 2006; Francisco in Water R&D can be evaluated basedMu~noz-Leiva et al., 2012; Zhang et al., 2010) while on publication based evidence. However,minority, were from SCOPUS (Bajwa and Yaldram, preliminary analysis showed that the use2013; Kumari, 2009). There are some literatures of Scival Spotlight is not suitable and maywhich use datasets from other established alternative not reflect the actual publication landscapesources as well, such as PubMed (Falagas et al.,2006; of Malaysia IHL and research ecosystem.Vergidis et al., 2005) and Google Scholar (Sanni These are due to several reasons.

A Study on the Current Status and Needs Assessment of 49Water Resources Research in Malaysia - Position Paperb) SCOPUS as a recent phenomenon. Only e) Subscription basis of SCOPUS. until recently that SCOPUS has been given SCOPUS requires a subscription for prominence by the research community comparative analysis between institutions in Malaysia; significantly after the creation (RM 10,000 per institution). As an example, of RU within Malaysia’s IHL. Therefore, to compare 5 RU requires an institution many research output are not available in to pay a subscription fee of RM50,000 SCOPUS because i) they are legacy and making a nationwide comparison a not indexed by SCOPUS ii) they are not financially unfeasible task. published with international publishers. We have decided to index water resource researchc) Limited coverage of SCOPUS. Although publications using a more thorough method using SCOPUS has extensive coverage, a combination of Google Scholar, SCOPUS and ISI it is relatively limited to international WOS. The resulting analyses are divided into those publications and do not cover majority of indexed in SCOPUS/ISI WOS and Google Scholar. local conference proceedings, seminars This hybrid method would be a more inclusive and and scholarly academic work such comprehensive method compared to the method of as books and thesis. As the research sole dependency to SCOPUS to attribute research publication landscape of Malaysia is only output and the resulting competency attribution. recently aware of the requirement of publication in journals, the migration of 3.3.1 General Publishing Trends in SCOPUS/ WOS publication destination has yet to occur. Indexes A comprehensive bibliometric analysis on past waterd) Insurmountable publication threshold research in Malaysia was conducted using the of SCOPUS Scival Spotlight. The use data mined from ISI’s WOS and SCOPUS. A basic of SCOPUS Scival Spotlight requires statistical aspect of the bibliometric analysis was the institutions to have a publication performed, such as citations distribution, publications threshold with a minimum number of growth, authors’ and institutions’ networks. The results papers published in a specific research are summarised in graphical visualizations to portray area. Absence of a significant number of the complex bibliographic relationships, trends and publications will prevent the identification patterns. The dataset used for this study covered the of competencies that can be attributed data from ISI’s WOS (all databases) and SCOPUS to the institution. For an example, UTM and mined using predetermined search terms possess a high number of publication (Table 3.6). related to water research. However, as many of these publications are not indexed by SCOPUS or has yet to reach a certain publication threshold, UTM which a research leader in water research has only managed to be identified as an “emerging competency” on two areas; Competency EC #11 [frequency analysis; flood; flood frequency] and Competency EC #59 [model; weather; rainfall]. Identification of these research competencies attributed to UTM is only based on 15 publications while a simple search of pdf documents with the keywords “water” and “rainfall” on Google pdf search resulted in 2810 documents consisting of thesis, conference papers, reports and proceedings.

50 A Study on the Current Status and Needs Assessment of Water Resources Research in Malaysia - Position PaperTABLE 3.6: LIST OF CONTROLLED SEARCH TERMS USED TO RETRIEVE PUBLICATIONSEutrophication List of search terms (with Malaysia)Stormwater FloodHydrology GroundwaterReservoir LakeWell (thermal/spring) PondRiver RainfallSea EstuaryOffshore CoastWater and health issue WastewaterWater pollution Water conservationWater analysis Water qualityWater issue Water resourcesWetlands Water supply Water The publications were organised and exported into 3.3.2 Publication Output in SCOPUS/ WOSRIS (Research Information Systems) format. Data was Individualmerged in EndNote reference management software The results mark an unhealthy trend where thewith the removal of duplicated items. Additional data distribution of publications and citations where morewere also mined according to the list of (Malaysian) than 3500 authors published only once in waterinstitutions indexed by SCOPUS, mostly institutions research, and more than 1800 authors have zeroof higher learning. Data in ISI was obtained by using citations. A closer inspection of the publicationsall publications in the Water Resource category, vs citations of the top 20 authors revealed a starkfiltered by Country=Malaysia. The two datasets were performance contrast between publications andcombined and duplications were removed with priority citations (Figure 3.1). There is a shift in the authors’(of retaining the publications) given to publications ranking, which suggests that a high number ofindexed by ISI. Further filtering of unrelated articles publications does not always translated into highwas done in addition to filling in missing information citations (and vice versa); with only four authorsof the published articles (e.g. abstract, authors, belonging to both top 20’s. These low citations withkeywords, etc.). Institutions’ name and authors’ high publications number could be due to excessivename were standardized and additional information ‘networking’ which published medium to low impactwere added, specifically, the publications’ category papers. It is expected that majority of authors willand geographical sources (of the water used in the generally publish a few highly cited ‘breakthrough’particular publication). publication that are extensively cited by others A total of 2516 publications were identified, namely researchers, with a majority of medium-citedof which 489 were from ISI, and 2027 from SCOPUS. publications, and a ‘long tail’ of uncited papers.The publications span from the year 1964 to 2012. Examination of the annual new author inductionThere are 5277 unique authors from 814 institutions. showed a positive correlation and exponential trendUnique authors were identified automatically based between the number of new authors and the numberon the author’s name and his/her known affiliations. of publications (Figure 3.2). However, the increase ofAuthors with unknown institutions (either untraceable number of new authors is now more that the increaseor affiliated to a generic street address), is denoted as in publications; with the gap becoming significantNULL, which is 495, including unknown authors fromunknown affiliations.

A Study on the Current Status and Needs Assessment of 51Water Resources Research in Malaysia - Position Paperbeginning in 2000. The increasing new author vs authorship should be limited to those who contributenew publication ratio suggests that too many authors considerably (based authorship ethics). Pressureare sharing the same publications. While some of from the institutions and individual performance index/the research is indeed in a large scale, in which a assessment (for salary increment/promotion) maybelarge number of authors are involved, publications reasons for this trend.Figure 3.1 (Left) -The top 20 authors, as according to number of publications where the angle of each arc isproportional to the number of publications (of the authors) with the radius proportional to citations (of the authors).(Right) -Top 20 authors in accordance to the number of citations where the arc angle represents the citations andthe arc radius represents the number of publications.

52 A Study on the Current Status and Needs Assessment of Water Resources Research in Malaysia - Position PaperFigure 3.2 New authors and new publications by years. Gephi network visualisation software (Bastian critical personnel in collaboration across differentet al., 2009) was used to visualise and analyse communities in the research area. The publicationour datasets in terms of authors networking and pattern also suggests that these authors possess theinstitutional networking. All the networks are ability to collaborate with those outside of their localundirected. There are 5277 authors (nodes) with communities. They would serve as the best example12227 interactions (edges) in our authors’ network of striking a balance intra and inter institutionalwith 161 non-interacting authors and 514 authors partnership. Examination of the authors’ network inwho only interact once. Nodes’ size is proportional their respective institutions and map the connectionsto the nodes’ degree and all the nodes are coloured between different authors in the particular institution.according to communities detected via modularity Relevant nodes and edges were extracted andanalysis. The largest sub-network consists of 2465 communities were detected by Gephi before beingnodes with 7397 interactions. exported to visualization by Circos (Krzywinski et al., 2009).3.3.3 Collaboration Network in SCOPUS/ WOS The interactions between communities decreasedIndividual from the highest to the lowest ranked institutionsIt is found that UKM, UTM and UPM have authors although the number of communities is similar. UPM,that are ranked top five in terms of inter-institutional USM, UKM and UTM showed good intra collaborationcollaborators. Prolific authors have been known to among their respective communities with at least 10%adopt a successful collaborative strategy that brings of the communities are interacting among each othermajor researchers together thus resulting in even (Figure 3.3).bigger and more solid research network. Highlyranked authors possess high betweenness centralityscore exhibit high inter institutional collaborators/inter institutions ratio, which makes him/her a

A Study on the Current Status and Needs Assessment of 53Water Resources Research in Malaysia - Position Paper Figure 3.3. Comparison of network of top institutional (local) communities in research universities.Note: The Outermost ring denotes each community detected by Gephi, and only interlinks (connections to differentcommunities) are shown. Communities without any interactions (i.e. communities with only one member) are discarded. Thering segments are sorted by the cumulative number of publications (starting from 12 o’clock) and the ring size is correlatedwith community size. The interactions among communities are driven due to the sheer size of the university that consists ofby the community size and community strength a network of universities with branches in almost every(number of publications) with interactions dominating State in Malaysia. The lack of interactions amongthe right portion of the graph. In the case of UM, UITM local communities maybe due to geographicalalthough having 51 local communities, the size of limitations with the researchers (although affiliated toeach community is small compared to the rest of the UITM) based in different branches of UITM in differentRUs. Surprisingly, the largest local community in UM, states. For IIUM and UMT, interactions exist amongU63, does not interact outside of itself. This suggests communities with high publications number and lowthat researchers in UM only collaborate with members publications number although the interactions are stillin the same community. Although a similar trend is very much community size dependent (Figure 3.4).observed in UITM researchers, the situation may be

54 A Study on the Current Status and Needs Assessment of Water Resources Research in Malaysia - Position PaperFigure 3.4. Comparison of network of top institutional (local) communities in research universities.Note: The outermost ring denotes each community detected by Gephi, and only interlinks (connections to differentcommunities) are shown. Communities without any interactions (i.e. communities with only one member) are discarded. Thering segments are sorted by the cumulative number of publications (starting from 12 o’clock) and the ring size is correlatedwith community size. 3.3.4 Publication Output SCOPUS/ WOS Finally, collaborative network among the top 20 Institutionalauthors was also analysed (Figure 3.5). The results The analysis of the top 20 institutional publicationshowed that all top 20 authors are male and relatively collaboration networks and publication output clearlysenior in their respective institutions. The network indicates that the RUs are in the lead (Figure 3.6analysis indicated that there is a lack of collaborative with Figure 3.7 as close-up). The National Higherpublication with only five out of the top 20 authors Education Transformation Roadmap by the Ministryhave co-authored together while 11 only collaborate of Higher Education (MOHE) describes the inceptionwith authors from the same institutions and only four of a ‘research university’ that is to be awarded tointeract with authors from different institutions. This deserving institutions of higher learning. Thus,suggested weak inter-institutional collaborations recipients such as UKM, UPM, USM, UM and UTMamong top authors in water research. are expected to undergo transformation that departs from the traditional roles of teaching to research and innovation based education. Therefore, the RUs have significantly more research capacities in terms of number of researchers, equipment and budgets.

A Study on the Current Status and Needs Assessment of 55Water Resources Research in Malaysia - Position Paper Figure 3.5 Top 20 authors collaboration network.Note: Code Authora1 Yap, C.K. [UPM],A2 Aziz, H.A. [USM],A3 Azamathulla, H.M. [USM],A4 Isa, M.H. [UTP],A5Kamaruzzaman, B.Y. [IIUM; UMT], A6 Ab Ghani, A. [USM], A7 Aris, A.Z. [UMS; UPM], A8 Mokhtar, M. [UKM], A9 Abdullah,K. [USM], A10 Ismail, A.F. [UTM], A11 Mat Jafri, M.Z. [USM], A12 Ismail, A. [UPM], A13 Toriman, M.E. [UKM], A14 Zakaria,N.A. [USM], A15 Hameed, B.H. [USM], A16 Yusoff, I. [UM], A17 Ahmad, A.L. [USM], A18 Jemain, A.A. [UKM], A19 Tan, S.G.[UPM] And A20 Ujang, Z. [UTM]Figure 3.6 Top 20 institutions’ trend on number of authors, number of publications and citations, sorted by thenumber of publications.Note: The dotted area is enlarged as figure 2. The size of the bubbles correlates to the number of citations (also highlightedas cool-warm colour scheme). A clear split exists between two groups of institutions; those with more than 200 publicationsand those without.

56 A Study on the Current Status and Needs Assessment of Water Resources Research in Malaysia - Position PaperFigure 3.7 Close up of the dotted area in figure 7 showing the smaller of the two groups of institutions in figure 2;those with more than 200 publications and those without. While the domination of the RU are clearly The annual publication trend of the top 20 institutionsestablished, institutions such as UMP, UMT and IIUM, with highest publications shows that UKM and UM arehave also impact on water research publication in pioneers in water research with publications as earlyMalaysia. However, non-public/private institutions can as 1972. They were joined by UTM, USM and UPMbe seen populating the lower rank (Figure 3.8), such in year 1984-85. The rest of the institutions started toas Multimedia University (MMU) and Universiti Tenaga contribute to publications either in late 90s or earlyNasional (UniTEN), with the exception of Universiti 2000s. There is a net positive growth of publications,Teknologi Petronas (UTP). Although funding to these the top eight institution generally recorded a yearlyprivate institutions from the government are relatively increment (denoted by the cool-warm colour schemelimited, research in UTP are partly associated with in Figure 3.8).PETRONAS, the national oil and gas company whichowns UTP. A rather unique institution in the top 20 is 3.3.5 Research Collaboration Network in SCOPUS/the Malaysian Nuclear Agency (MNA). Though the WOS Institutionalmain focus of MNA is nuclear research, the publication All the RUs, again excel in institutional network,list revealed a significant number of projects involving scoring higher networking among differentheavy metals. communities and higher sub network connectivity. The general trend revealed that the number of As far as top 10 institutions are concerned, UPM,authors is directly proportional to the number of UKM and UMS are grouped in the same communitypublications (an almost linear plot in Figure 3.6 and (detected by Gephi), USM and UTP are in another3.7), with limited exceptions (clearly shown in Figure community, and, UTM–UITM and IIUM–UMT3.7). Citations trend (bubble colour and size), on the are in separate communities, respectively. Theother hand, is less dependent on both parameters. networking among top 20 institutions is generallyUSM, being the institution with the second highest diverse , however, has very few unconnected nodesnumber of publications, tops the citations (six authors (institutions).with highest citations are from USM). FRIM possessesbetter citations count than most of the institutions inFigure 3.8 except for UMS and UTP.

A Study on the Current Status and Needs Assessment of 57Water Resources Research in Malaysia - Position PaperFigure 3.8 Annual publications for top 20 institutions.Note: with white=no publications. All institutions constantly published once they have started with absence limited from oneto four years (from 1990 onwards).TABLE 3.7 LIST OF FOREIGN (FOR) AND LOCAL (MAL) COLLABORATED INSTITUTIONS FOR THE TOP 20 INSTITUTIONSInstitutions FOR MALUniversiti Putra Malaysia 111 41Universiti Sains Malaysia 88 25Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 57 40Universiti Teknologi Malaysia 70 35Universiti Malaya 73 33Universiti Teknologi MARA 22 20International Islamic University Ma- 12 21laysiaUniversiti Malaysia Terengganu 21 14Universiti Teknologi Petronas 25 10Universiti Malaysia Sabah 25 16Universiti Malaysia Sarawak 7 13Malaysia Nuclear Agency 4 12Universiti Malaysia Pahang 14 9

58 A Study on the Current Status and Needs Assessment of Water Resources Research in Malaysia - Position PaperForest Research Institute of Malay- 23 4siaUniversiti Tun Hussein Onn Malay- 12 4siaUniversiti Malaysia Perlis 7 9Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman 12 5Kyoto University 24 12Multimedia University 3 6Universiti Tenaga Nasional 1 6RUs generally have more collaboration with foreign is a year before the oldest publication in WOS andinstitutions than local ones. The lacks of foreign SCOPUS’s dataset) to 2012. In addition, the Googlecollaborators for other local could be due to the Scholar’s coverage of legacy publications is foundinstitutions’ reputation in water research. to be superior to WOS and SCOPUS with additional years of coverage (1967-1969). In terms of journals/3.3.6 Publishing Trends in Google Scholar conferences coverage, dataset for Google ScholarA set of controlled search terms (Table 3.6) identical shows 556 unique journals/conferences not found into the ones used earlier were used to query for articles WOS and SCOPUS dataset which constitutes 700of our interest in Google Scholar. Any duplications articles. Such observation is significant enough forto the publications identified in WOS and SCOPUS any of the bibliometric analyses to include data fromwere removed. Each Google Scholar indexed Google Scholar.publications were categorised to themes (biodiversity, The different dataset of articles mined from Googleclimate change, drainage, energy, pollution, water Scholar has generated the different ranking of themanagement and others), geological classification top institutions in water research (Table 3.8). Three(coast, island, lake, rain, river, waste and undefined) new institutions were promoted from WOS/SCOPUSand type of the study (science, technology and social). ranking to top 20 in Google Scholar; NAHRIM, FFPRI A total of 1257 articles were collected during the and DID which previously on published 12, 17 anddata mining after some filtering and data cleaning. 18 respectively according to WOS/SCOPUS dataset.Majority of the articles are found to be of journal Minor shuffling occurred throughout the top 20 overallarticles (988), followed by conference proceedings ranking including the 2nd-3rd place swap between(173) and the rest (96). This trend is similar with USM and UKM and the outgoing of UniTEN, MMUthe WOS and SCOPUS’s dataset. We manage to and UTAR. Although the ranking of top contributorstagged 840 authors with their known affiliations were the least affected, we observed newcomerswhile discovering 1537 (potentially) new authors. in the range of top 20, hence justifying the need forThe years of publications span from 1963 (which bibliographic analysis to include Google Scholar’s data.

A Study on the Current Status and Needs Assessment of 59Water Resources Research in Malaysia - Position Paper TABLE 3.8 SUMMARY RANKING OF EACH DATASET AND THE FINAL RANKING (COMBINATION OF BOTH DATASETS) OF THE TOP 20 PUBLISHING INSTITUTIONS WOS/SCOPUS Pub Google Scholar Pub Total Pub UPM 596 USM 442 UKM 155 UPM 494 UKM 490 UTM 404 UPM 154 UKM 342 UM 300 UiTM 339 USM 86 USM 144 IIUM 118 UMT 279 UM 63 UTM 108 UTP 100 UMS 237 UTM 63 UM 98 UNIMAS 66 MNA 120 UMS 36 UiTM 58 UMP 54 FRIM 98 FRIM 27 IIUM 36 UTHM 34 UniMAP 87 UiTM 24 UMT 30 UTAR 28 Kyoto U 86 UMT 21 UTP 27 UniTEN 26 MMU 62 IIUM 20 UMS 26 47 UNIMAS 19 UNIMAS 43 NAHRIM 18 MNA 34 MNA 15 FRIM 27 UTP 14 UMP 26 FFPRI 10 UTHM 24 JIRCA 10 NAHRIM 22 UTHM 8 Kyoto U 22 DID 8 FFPRI 19 U Tokyo 8 UniMAP 19 U California 7 DID

60 A Study on the Current Status and Needs Assessment of Water Resources Research in Malaysia - Position PaperResearch categories were used to classify the articles between generalised researches, such as wateraccording to the type of water research, whereas quality to social-based researches. This suggestsgeological classifications attempt to differentiate the that miscellany publication which is often found in the‘water source’ of the publication. In addition, articles “Other” category is relatively harder to be publishedwere further divided into Science, Engineering and in WOS and SCOPUS indexed journals/conferences.Social based researches. The WOS/SCOPUS dataset Geological classification (Figure 3.11) and type ofshows that ‘Pollution’ is a favoured topic of research research (Figure 3.12) for WOS/SCOPUS dataset(Figure 3.9), whereas, Google Scholar shows that and Google Scholar dataset indicated a similar trend.‘Others’ is favoured with ‘Pollution’, and is followed The discernible difference is only minor; namely,closely (Figure 3.10). The categories ‘Drainage’ the WASTE geological class showed less in Googleand ‘Energy’ remain the least published-about- Scholar than in WOS/SCOPUS while the UNDEFINEDresearch. Examination of publication categorised category is slightly higher in Google Scholar by 8%.as “Others” in Google Scholar showed a rangeFigure 3.9 Research topic category by year for articles indexed by WOS/SCOPUS.

A Study on the Current Status and Needs Assessment of 61Water Resources Research in Malaysia - Position Paper Figure 3.10. Research categories by year for articles indexed by google scholar.Figure 3.11. Geological classification for (a) WOS/SCOPUS and (b) Google Scholar datasets.

62 A Study on the Current Status and Needs Assessment of Water Resources Research in Malaysia - Position PaperFigure 3.12 Type of research for (a) WOS/SCOPUS and (b) Google Scholar datasets.Google scholar provides a better representation a number of reasons for this. One is that grantsof bibliometric dataset, due to its wide coverage, obtained from MOSTI are typically larger in term ofparticularly those of journals and conference monetary value. Another reason could be that UKMproceedings not indexed by WOS and SCOPUS. has managed to obtain a larger portion of MOHEThe inclusion of such additional information, although grants prior to RMK-9 (year 2002). RUs, generallyonly slightly cleaned, affects the institutional ranking are IHL which rank ‘better’ in publications than grant’sand possibly author ranking as well. In the current standings. Table 3.9 details the institutes of higherworld of no clearly defined boundaries, the (academic learning (IHL)’s standings in terms of grant andresearch) information outreach in no longer as publications.controlled or as restricted as before, Google Scholarprove to be a competitive data provider of such byfocusing primarily on the ‘visibility’ of the publications.3.3.7 Publication Funding CorrelationAmong the universities in Malaysia, UTM has obtainedthe most of grants (cumulatively from MOHE andMOSTI). This is followed by UPM and UMT, Whereas,in the field of publications, UPM is the first, followedby USM and UKM. UKM, being the 3rd in publications,has only managed to secure 26 grants. There are

A Study on the Current Status and Needs Assessment of 63Water Resources Research in Malaysia - Position PaperTABLE 3.9: TOTAL GRANTS STANDING (YEAR 2002-2011) FOR INSTITUTIONS AND THEIR RESPECTIVE PUBLICATIONS STANDING (YEAR 2002-2012) Grants Standing (Descending) Publications StandingUniversiti Teknologi Malaysia 4Universiti Putra Malaysia 1Universiti Malaysia Terengganu 8Universiti Sains Malaysia 2Universiti Teknologi MARA 6Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 3Universiti Malaya 5Universiti Malaysia Sabah 10Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia 14Universiti Malaysia Perlis 15Universiti Malaysia Sarawak 12Universiti Malaysia Pahang 11Universiti Tenaga Nasional 18Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris 21Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Malaysia 7Agensi Nuklear Malaysia 13SIRIM Berhad 31Forest Research Institute Malaysia 17Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia 32Universiti Malaysia Kelantan 283.3.8 Publications Citations Correlation and water management, although they shared aThe results indicated that the ‘Pollution’ category similar number of publications, their contributionis the top contributor to the number of publication to citations varies. Distinctively, biodiversity seemsand citations, at 981 and 6353, respectively, with an to garner more citations than compared to wateraverage of 6.48 citations per paper (Figure 3.13). management, however, the latter has a higher numberNonetheless, biodiversity, climate change, others of publications.

64 A Study on the Current Status and Needs Assessment of Water Resources Research in Malaysia - Position PaperFigure 3.13. Publications and citations trend for different categories. Similar observation can be found in geological Reports. For example, top ten journals which offerclassification (Figure 3.14). There is no clear leader impact factors from 35.7 to 153.5 belongs to basicin terms of publications with waste, rain, coast and science discipline with few exception such as Natureriver evenly distributed. However, citations in waste and Nature Materials which sometimes accept(with an average of 8.03 citations per paper) easily technology based articles. In contrary, the top journaloutperformed those of the other three classes. As in computer system (IEEE Transactions on Neuralshown in Figure 3.15, science -based research Networks and Learning Systems) only manage toremains the top in total publications (1980) and score 3.77.citations (10450). This observation agrees with thetrend of impact factor reported in Journal CitationsFigure 3.14. Publications and citations trend for different geological classification.

A Study on the Current Status and Needs Assessment of 65Water Resources Research in Malaysia - Position PaperFigure 3.15. Publication and citation trends for different types of research.3.3.9 Research Classification Relationship In short, Science-based researches are consideredThe relationships between categories, geological the best “bang-for-your-buck” researches; be it theclassifications and types of research were studied as citation count or the relationship with other categorieswell. Every category, geological classifications and and geological classification. Regardless of thetypes of research ‘interact’ among themselves, at least research area, fundamental (sciences) researchesonce; except for climate change (category) which are of utmost critical since they help in understanding“has nothing to do with” waste (geological class). the phenomena which in turns encourage theScience, undoubtedly, is the most important node as technological development based on the theory.it has strong relationship, particularly with pollution Articles which are science-based-pollution-study-of-(category). Lake and island (geological classification), waste (intended) are the most frequently published, asand, drainage and energy (category), do not have any far as water research in Malaysia is concerned.significant relationship with others; whereas, ‘others’(category), do not have any prominent relationshipwith any of the geological class. The most noteworthy‘triangle’ is the science – waste – pollution whichconstitutes around 22.5% of the total ‘connections’.Another important relationship is the climate change –rain relationship weighted at 229.

66 A Study on the Current Status and Needs Assessment of Water Resources Research in Malaysia - Position PaperChapter 4Water R&D NeedsAssessment4.1 Overview 4.2 Stakeholders Survey and FindingsIn the study, a final listing of important Water R&D In order to know which Water R&D fields are importantareas was developed by adopting various steps. The to the stakeholders, a consultation workshop wasfirst step was the listing of Water R&D areas from held on 26 March 2013, at NAHRIM, where about 30an extensive literature survey. In this step, we had stakeholders participated. The project team distributedidentified 175 different Water R&D areas. As not all a questionnaire to the workshop participants. A total ofidentified Water R&D areas were fit for the Malaysian 22 responses were received. A copy of questionnaireenvironment and the country’s water resource is shown in Appendix A. It is important to mention thatproblems, so the listing of 175 Water R&D areas the comprehensive literature review on Water R&Dwas further tested on the water resource problems fields resulted into 175 different Water R&D fields.in the country. This investigation came up with 95 These Water R&D fields are shown in Table 4.1.Water R&D areas which we assume were the mostrepresentative for solving water resources problems inMalaysia. The next step for developing priority listing ofWater R&D areas was to design and administer thequestionnaire in the Strategic Consultation workshop(SC-1). The questionnaire was distributed in the SC-1and responses from 22 workshop participants werereceived. The data was analysed and a new prioritylisting of 95 Water R&D areas was developed. Allthe other steps involved in developing final prioritylisting of major Water R&D areas is shown in Figure4.1. More details on every step are given in thesubsequent sections and sub-sections.

A Study on the Current Status and Needs Assessment of 67Water Resources Research in Malaysia - Position PaperFigure 4.1. Procedure followed in developing priority listing of Water R&D areas. TABLE 4.1: IDENTIFIED IMPORTANT WATER R&D FIELDS (N=175)Sr. No. Water R&D Field Sr. No. Water R&D Field Sr. No. Water R&D Field1 Absorption and 60 Advance flood warning 119 Alternative water Remediation 61 system resources2 Bio-remedial Brackish Water 120 Capacity building and treatment 62 Biodiversity and awareness 63 Conservation3 Climate change Cloud Seeding 121 Coastal Ecology impacts Technology Corrosion 122 Cumulative watershed4 Conjunctive use of effects water 64 Drainage technologies and water logging issues 123 Drinking Water Quality5 Disaster Standards Management

68 A Study on the Current Status and Needs Assessment of Water Resources Research in Malaysia - Position Paper6 Ecological 65 Ecology of water 124 Eco-tourism Engineering resources, including groundwater 125 Environmental Risk7 Environmental Policy, 66 Environmental Protection Assessment and Legislation and and Health Impact Bionomics Standards Flood control and 126 Flooding and erosion8 Estuarine Ecology 67 management control Freshwater Biodiversity9 Freshwater and 68 and Conservation 127 Freshwater Ecology saline water interface Groundwater 128 Groundwater contamination and10 Groundwater 69 pollutant transport Hydrology Assessment Impacts of uncertain 129 Improving flood population growth,11 Impacts of climate 70 climate change, and carrying capacity of change on flow transboundary issues on rivers regimes water supply Integrated Water 130 Isotope Hydrology12 Integrated catchment 71 Resource Management 131 Marine Ecology management Mangrove Ecology13 Management of 72 water resources and water provision14 National Biodiversity 73 Natural Resource 132 New emerging Policy Management pollutants Palaeoecology15 Organic 74 133 Partnership in water contamination in Polluter pays principle resources management water 134 Population Ecology16 Policies and 75 Regulations about water17 Restoration of urban 76 River and coastal flood 135 River Basin river channels management Management Sea Water/Salt Water18 Rural Hydrology 77 Intrusion 136 Seasonal Climate Social engineering Forecasting19 Service efficiency 78 and effectiveness Sullage 137 Socio-economic Sustainable use of water impacts of sea level20 Storm Water 79 Urban Hydrology rise and increased river Management Waste Bioremediation flooding21 Sustainable 80 138 Surface Water Sanitation Hydrology22 Urban and Rural 81 139 SWIFT methods for Water Policy monitoring water quality23 Waste assimilation 82 140 Urban runoff utilisation 141 Waste Management

A Study on the Current Status and Needs Assessment of 69Water Resources Research in Malaysia - Position Paper24 Water and 83 Water Availability 142 Water Bodies Wastewater Treatment Technology25 Water Enrichment 84 Water Filtration 143 Water Footprints and Virtual water26 Water policy and 85 Water Pollution calculations governance Water Resources 144 Water quality criteria27 Water Resources 86 Management and standards Development Water Services and Utilities 145 Water resources28 Water Security 87 Watershed Ecosystems security Watershed vulnerability29 Waterborne Diseases 88 index 146 Water supply and Arsenic cycling in lakes distribution30 Zero-Discharge 89 Technology Catchment Management 147 Watershed protection 148 Wetlands31 Aquatic and Marine 90 Coastal Management life 149 Bio-indicators32 Carbon 91 150 Climate change Sequestration adaptation policies (Carbon Conversion) 151 Coastal pollution33 Coastal 92 hydrodynamic processes34 Decision Support 93 Decision support 152 Degradation of aquatic System in water systems in watershed ecosystem resources management Dyes and Pigments 153 Ecohydrology35 Drought 94 Environmental and eco- 154 Environmental flow in Management system services Erosion Control rivers36 Emerging 95 155 Estimation and environmental Formulation, pollutants establishment & Modelling of implementation of water Precipitation37 Environmental 96 policy, legislation & 156 Fresh Water and Standards institutions Estuarine Environment Global Warming/Climate38 Footprint of water 97 Change 157 Greywater systems39 Geographical 98 Information System (GIS) in watershed management

70 A Study on the Current Status and Needs Assessment of Water Resources Research in Malaysia - Position Paper40 Hazardous Waste 99 Hydraulic System 158 Hydrology, Management Hydrogeology and hydrometeorology41 Industrial Effluent 100 Industrial Water 159 Institutional and water Treatments Management governance42 Karst Ecology 101 Landscape Ecology 160 Limnology43 Marine Water Quality 102 Molecular Ecology 161 Monitoring, remediation Standards and and conservation of Criteria water resources44 Non-revenue water 103 Nutrient Removal Process 162 Optimization of water (NRW)45 Physiological 104 Plant and Water Relation 163 Point and non-point Ecology source pollution46 Rainwater Harvesting 105 Reclamation, Reuse and 164 Remote Sensing Recycling47 River ecosystem 106 River management and 165 Role of woman in functions rehabilitation enhancing water use efficiency48 Seawater and 107 Seawater Chemistry 166 Sediment Transport Sediment Chemistry and Silting49 Soil Bioremediation 108 Solid Waste Management 167 Storm Water Harvesting50 Sustainability of 109 Sustainable agriculture 168 Sustainable decision- watersheds making for urban water systems51 Toxic and Hazardous 110 True economic value of 169 Trust building with Waste water stakeholders52 Urban water 111 Urban watershed 170 Virtual water concept regulation and remediation promotion planning53 Waste Water 112 Water and Health 171 Water and wastewater Management treatment54 Water Body 113 Water Delivery System 172 Water demand Management management55 Water governance 114 Water Meters 173 Water policy56 Water Quality 115 Water related Rules, 174 Water resource Simulation Modelling Policies, Laws assessment57 Water resources 116 Water rights/permits/ 175 Water Sanitary sustainability trading58 Water tariff and 117 Water Treatment subsidies59 Watershed 118 Water, as a Green sustainability index solvent/ Reaction Medium

A Study on the Current Status and Needs Assessment of 71Water Resources Research in Malaysia - Position Paper Later on, all of these 175 Water R&D fields were 2. Water Supply and Demand;discussed in various meetings of the project team, 3. Irrigation and Drainage;and it was short-listed to only 95 Water R&D fields 4. Sanitation, Wastewater Treatment & which were deemed to be important for Malaysian Environmental Issues; andwater resources and related research fields. These 95 5. Water and Climate Change.Water R&D fields were included in the questionnaires In the survey, the rating of 1 to 5 (1 being ‘Leastused in the Consultation Workshop (SC-1) and the Important’ and 5 being ’Most Important’) was utilisedExpert Opinion Survey. All these 95 Water R&D fields to determine the level of importance of the sub-topicswere distributed into five sections of the questionnaire, in different five sections of Water R&D fields. The listdepending on their relevance to a particular section. of short-listed (amended) Water R&D fields is given inThese five sections of the questionnaire are as Table 4.2.follows:1. Water Resources and Watershed Management; TABLE 4.2: IMPORTANT WATER R&D FIELDS (N=95)Sr. No. Water R&D Field Sr. No. Water R&D Field Sr. No. Water R&D Field 1 Advanced and 33 Advanced dam 65 Advanced water treatment innovative technology process 2 technology for industrial 34 Alternative water 66 Assessment of freshwater 3 wastewater resources (ground withdrawal 4 treatment water, rainwater 5 Alternative harvesting, etc.) 67 Carbon footprint of water 6 unconventional and wastewater treatment 7 urban sanitation 35 Balancing water supply system systems versus demand 8 Assessment of 68 Climate change and water use and 36 Climate change and hydrologic cycle availability aquatic invasive species Catchment/river 69 Coastal erosions basin management 37 Coastal ecology Climate change and 38 Conservation and 70 Consumer and corporate rainfall modelling water footprint assessment Coastal habitat preservation of water management resources 71 Development of best 39 Decentralised sanitation drainage design and Dam modelling system practices that enable crops construction to use shallow groundwater 40 Drainage, water logging efficiently Drainage for and salinity control ecosystem and 72 Drinking water quality conservation standards

72 A Study on the Current Status and Needs Assessment of Water Resources Research in Malaysia - Position Paper9 Drinking water 41 Ecohydrology 73 Electromechanicalquality versus public equipmenthealth 74 Environmental and social10 Energy and water 42 Environmental and impacts efficient cities/ indigenous people township related issues 75 Environmental impacts assessment of effluent11 Environmental 43 Environmental flow discharge to environment effects of nutrients versus climate change carried in drainage issue 76 Eutrophication discharge 77 Ground water quality12 Environmental water 44 Erosion andrequirements sedimentation 78 Impacts of climate change, increased13 Flood management 45 Fresh water ecology population and changing and mitigation human demographics on watersheds14 Groundwater 46 Hydrometeorology hydrology 79 Improved and innovative irrigation technology (for15 Impacts of climate 47 Impacts of irrigation water use reduction)variability on on environmental andwetlands ecosystem health 80 Integrated water resource management16 Integrated coastal 48 Integrated urban water zone management management 81 Marine ecology17 Low carbon and 49 Marine biodiversity, 82 Modelling climate-related energy efficient conservation and water resource stressors treatment system management 83 Phytoremediation/18 Marine pollution 50 Micro drainage system Bioremediation technology for small scale farming 84 Protected conservation19 Newly emerging 51 Nutrients removal and areas in marine water pollutants management environment20 Policy and 52 Policy and legislative 85 Quality waters and legislative issues wastewater reuse for instruments irrigation21 Public awareness 53 Public participation in 86 River morphology and participation watershed management in water resources 87 Salt/sea water intrusion conservation 88 Storm water management22 Rainwater 54 Risk assessment harvesting for irrigation purpose23 River rehabilitation 55 Rural hydrology24 Seawater and 56 Social and sediment chemistry environmental costs of watershed degradation