E-Government

The government of Malaysia launched e-govt project a few years ago with a bang but it was hardly heard by the public at large. When the announcement was made it was loaded with jargons coined by the consultants engaged by the govt that even the person who proclaimed it may not understand what they were supposed to do: e-enabling, value driven etc. Thereafter Majlis Perbandaran Ampang Jaya launched its portal, so secretively that you have to do google search to discover its existence. The site did not even have a domain name. So I register to post a complaint about a contractor who was distributing a flier asking residents who had planted trees along the roadside to remove it within one week. No reason was stated in the flier other than to indicate that it was by the order of Yang Dipertua MPAJ. I am not going to record the reasons for my objection to the flier content but just to show that the portal system did not help create an efficient institution. There was no reply and I do not think anybody in MPAJ ever read it. The culture and work processes has to change to take advantage of the internet as a communication tool. Almost all govt departments have web page because it is fashionable to have it: doing something for the sake of doing it. I have seen one Ministry's web site that has as its most important content the photo gallery of its past secretary general. I wonder why people would want to visit govt web site at all?

At the other end of the spectrum the better IT facility, especially with better databases, has resulted in public distress. Suddenly the police was able to see the database of traffic offenders that goes back to as long as ten years ago. The offenders themselves do not have the kind of memory available to the computer system. To enforce it the police has announced that it will go house to house to search for these offenders and put up roadblock and detained them on the spot. Currently the police is said to be short of manpower and I think if all the effort is spent on history I wonder how current needs of public safety and order are met? There is no consideration of the opportunity cost involved in managing limited resources. Personally I think this is a case of abuse of technology.