Malaysia has had one of the highest learning losses among Asian developing nations due to the pandemic. 25% of all preschools have closed, and many developmental delays and learning difficulties have been reported by schools. 88% of parents are concerned about their children's development.

Early detection and intervention are the only solutions for this serious social issue. If we can detect and take action early enough, the probability of improving developmental problems will significantly increase. However, Malaysia does not have developmental screening subsidised by the government. Without developmental screening, it is impossible to plan the right intervention programs. Signs of developmental delay may also be missed without screenings.

Most parents did not have access to or could not afford the screenings as specialists were limited, and it was expensive. To democratise developmental screening in Malaysia, a large budget and time commitment are required to train specialists across the country.

Our idea was to transform developmental screening into a game format. The game links with a smartphone and measures all items included in traditional screenings. Designed like an arcade game, it is also portable. The game format allows the child to be more relaxed then if taking the test with a specialist, helping to bring out the child’s true potential. Turning the screening into a digital game has also solved the problem of high price and lack of specialists. While the average cost of a screening in a Malaysian hospital is $350, the TOY8 screening costs only $35, making it affordable and much more accessible. The game was developed together with Malaysia’s top child developmental specialist, with the scoring method adopted into the system and automated. As long as there’s the screening tool and a smartphone, the screening can be done by anyone, anywhere, anytime.

To deliver developmental screenings quickly across Malaysia, our strategy was to turn face-to-face developmental screening into a digital game.

There was no developmental norm for children’s development, as developmental screening is not compulsory. Hence, we needed to set the first standardised developmental norm in Malaysia.

We worked with the University Malaya and Sunway University to design screening items and parent questionnaires and collected data from over 8,000 children aged 3 to 5 years. Scoring language, fine motor, gross motor, social, and cognitive skills in each age group produced the first developmental norm in the country. This developmental screening can alert parents of children with scores significantly lower than the norm to consult a specialist.

Usually, developmental paediatricians compare Malaysian children with Western children because they use tools from USA and UK. On the other hand, this developmental screening uses data from Malaysian children, which significantly increases accuracy.

By establishing Malaysia's first developmental norm, we were able to invent the world's first comprehensive (not limited to specific developmental assessment. i.e. dyslexia, ADHD, autism assessment) developmental screening tool through digital games.

We have upgraded the dull or slightly scary 'developmental test' into a fun 'digital game’ for children. This is not only a digital transformation of the traditional manual developmental screening but also an entertainment transformation.

The traditional face-to-face screening was not an accurate and fair data collection method. This was because the skills, and character of the specialists conducting the screening varied, and the child may have been nervous or frightened. On the other hand, TOY8 Screening is just a fun game on the phone for children, so it allows the children to relax and measure the child's true ability data.

With cabinet ministers' participation, the National Recovery Council approved TOY8 as a screening tool for the recovery of Malaysian preschoolers.

The screening has also been used as an employee benefit program in large companies such as Shell, The Central Bank of Malaysia and FGV, to name but a few.

In addition, a project with the National Child Data Research Centre to make screening mandatory in public kindergartens has also been initiated. The project is to democratise TOY8 screening as an infrastructure of the country and continue to research developmental data of children. This is an initiative that will have a significant impact on the child's subsequent life.