Hari Raya hacking of Kedah government website gives greater saliency to latest international study of  Malaysia a “laggard” in e-government usage despite MSC being a “gift to the world” and e-government one of the seven flagship applications


Media Statement
by Lim Kit Siang

(Penang, Monday) The hacking of the  Kedah state government website, http:// www.kedah.gov.my, during the Hari Raya has given greater saliency to latest international study of  Malaysia being a “laggard” in e-government usage despite the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) bequeathed as  a “gift to the world” and e-government one of the seven MSC  flagship applications

The Kedah state government website, which has not been restored,  was hacked during Hari Raya, leaving behind the following message from the hacker:
 

"Di kesempatan ini saya ingin mengucapkan selamat hari raya maaf zahir batin kepada :

#Kedah webnet - Mant , penyu, altrojo, tin-oren, matduish, budak_sket, sitias, dan lain2

#mha webnet - Black-Gagak , Joe^^

Tak lupa juga kepada admin seber - selamat ari raya - saya tak pro mana2 parti politik :)

Ucapan Ikhlas Dari Neophyte

fail lama - utamalama.html"


It was only a week ago that an international “Government Online Study (GO)” to measure the impact of the Internet on government globally and nationally was released and it was a most  unflattering finding for Malaysia.

Electronic government was one of the seven flagship applications of the multi-billion ringgit MSC when it was set up more than  five years ago, and the government proclaimed the MSC as “Malaysia’s gift to the world”.

If the MSC is Malaysia’s “gift to the world” and electronic government one of the seven MSC  flagship applications, then there is no reason why in an international survey on e-government adoption, Malaysia lagged behind many of the 27 countries surveyed in the study based on global and national benchmarks relating to the use of government services online and perceptions of safety when providing personal information to Government.

The key questions surveyed in the study were:
 


According to the study by market researcher Taylor Nelson Sofres, only 11 percent of Malaysians have used the Internet to access government data, provide information to government agencies, or to transact with government services online.

Norway had the highest level of e-government usage at 53 percent, followed by Denmark (47 per cent) and Finland (46 per cent) as well as in North America - Canada (46 per cent) and the USA (34 per cent). But all those countries have far greater Internet penetrations than Malaysia.

The study found that the  main problem for Malaysia lagging behind in e-government usage is security.  Fifty-seven percent of Malaysians polled said they were worried about using the Internet to provide the government with personal information or credit card details.

The time has come for the government  to review the progress of the e-government flagship application as to whether it is living up to the reputation of the MSC as “a gift to the world”  instead of becoming an international embarrassment.

(17/12/2001)



*Lim Kit Siang - DAP National Chairman