This essay was written by Octavius Ete Tan Zhy Lam who is currently a student at Carnegie Mellon University (previously he studied at the Australian International School Malaysia). His essay was selected as the 1st place winner of English category of the 2022 Science for Youth Global Essay Competition held by the Mahathir Science Award Foundation. In this competition, participants were asked, “How can science and technology remedy the issues faced by tropical regions?”.