BRIDGING THE DIGITAL DIVIDE THROUGH 1MALAYSIA NETBOOK IN HULU SELANGOR

Bridging the Digital Divide through 1Malaysia Netbook in Hulu Selangor

I refer to the article titled BN MP 'in trouble' over 1Malaysia laptops that appeared in FMT on 31st May 2012.

The Malaysian Communication And Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has created an enriching initiative to bring the combination of technology and internet penetration to rural areas under their 1Malaysia Netbook Program. There are a set of detailed guidelines provided by MCMC on the selection of recipients for these 1Malaysia Netbook. The Hulu Selangor constituency is no different and strictly abide by these guidelines. For the readers information, the respective parliament offices recommend the list of recipients to MCMC and MCMC is the final approving body who decides who receives the Netbook. The parliament office is only a conduit for this noble initiative.

Towards kick starting this endeavor, for the area of Hulu Selangor the MCMC has allocated a total of 1000 netbooks via the first phase and 1589 netbooks via the second phase, while 2000 netbooks were allocated via the third phase. For the first two phases all the netbooks were allocated to students while for the third phase MCMC have decided that the allocation will be 65% for students and the remainder 35% for social and community leaders and the society at large in the determined area of Hulu Selangor. They have also broken the distribution process into 3 different phases based on the locality and availability of the netbooks for the Hulu Selangor area.

It is imperative that reports published are factual and accurate as prescribed and upheld by media organisations. It is very unethical and irresponsible of any media organisation that published reports without obtaining clarification from both parties, as it was the case in the above mentioned article published by FMT on 31st May 2012.

Overall the distribution process has been very successful but we would like a bigger allocation for next year so more students and members of the public can have access to a netbook. Programs like this one will have a huge impact on the society at large and bodes well for Malaysia’s future today and tomorrow. As the Member of Parliament I’m very happy to play my role as a facilitator in making this noble project a success for all Malaysians.