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Personal Data Protection Bill put online as national service and to welcome public views

It has taken the government some two decades to finally come out with Personal Data Protection Bill which was presented in Parliament for first reading yesterday.

It is however not available online, which is a sad reflection on the government’s seriousness and commitment to ICT and e-government.

As a national service, the Personal Data Protection Bill is hereby put on-line and all public views and input are welcome before parliamentary debate next month.

In Parliament in April 1997, I spoke of eight principles which should be adopted in a Malaysian Data Protection Act, viz:

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Broadband Penetration vs Broadband Quality vs HSBB

The Finance Minister said in the budget speech that the Government will expedite the implementation of HSBB at a total cost of RM11.3 billion, of which RM2.4 billion is from the Government and RM8.9 billion from Telekom Malaysia, and that a speed of 10Mbps will be provided in selected areas in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor by end-March 2010 while these services will be extended to other selected areas nationwide between 2010 and 2012.
He also said that Malaysia’s broadband penetration is currently at 25%, a rate that is far lower compared to Korea, Singapore, Japan and United States.

There is a contradiction here.

In simple terms, administration is spending RM2.4 billion to encourage Telekom Malaysia to spend RM8.9 billion for selected areas in KL and Selangor to be further extended to other selected areas nationwide.

The government policy in subsidizing HSBB is creating broadband desert in the rural area as its fiscal policy continues to favour the urban and high-income rakyat as shown by its tax cut for the top-earners.
Continue reading “Broadband Penetration vs Broadband Quality vs HSBB”

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Planned International Internet Bandwidth for HSBB

Lim Kit Siang [Ipoh Timur] minta Menteri Penerangan, Komunikasi dan Kebudayaan menyatakan beberapakah jalur lebar Internet antarabangsa yang akan ditambah mengikut perancangan oleh TM untuk menampung HSBB dan penggunaan Internet Streamyx bagi setiap suku tahun (quarterly) mulai 2009 sehingga 2014.

Jawapan:

Untuk makluman, perancangan penambahan kapasiti jalur lebar pihak TM dibuat secara tahunan dan bukan mengikut suku tahun. Sehingga 2 Jun 2009, jumlah kapasiti jalur lebar Internet antarabangsa adalah sebanyak 112.0Gbps. Bagi tahun 2009, kapasiti jalur lebar Internet antarabangsa yang dirancang adalah sebanyak 149.4 Gbps dan dijangka meningkat kepada 715.0 Gbps pada tahun 2013.

Jumlah anggaran perancangan kapasiti jalur lebar Internet yang akan ditambah untuk menampung keperluan perkhidmatan TM mengikut tahun adalah seperti berikut : Continue reading “Planned International Internet Bandwidth for HSBB”

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International Internet Bandwidth

Updated with data from 1992-2004 (from independent source)

Parliament Q & A:

Lim Kit Siang [Ipoh Timur] minta Menteri Penerangan, Komunikasi, dan Kebudayaan menyatakan dalam jadual dari tahun 1994 sehingga 2009, berapakah kapasiti jalur lebar Internet Antarabangsa (International Internet Bandwidth) yang dipunyai oleh Malaysia mengikut syarikat yang
memilikinya.

Jawapan :

Kapasiti jalur lebar Internet antarabangsa secara umumnya dimiliki oleh konsortium-konsortium anatarabangsa. Kapasiti antarabangsa ini disampaikan melalui 12 kabel dasar laut yang disambungkan melalui stesen-stesen pendaratan kabel di Malaysia. Telekom Malaysia (TM) selaku penyedia perkhidmatan Internet terbesar di Malaysia merupakan pengguna dan antara pemegang ekuiti utama di dalam konsortium terbabit.

Syarikat-syarikat lain sama ada tidak mempunyai sebarang pegangan, atau menpunyai pegangan yang amat kecil di dalam konsortium yang membekalkan kapasiti jalur lebar Internet antarabangsa.
Continue reading “International Internet Bandwidth”

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Malaysia in unchecked plunge in IT international competitiveness as illustrated by another adverse global study – the 2009 Oxford/Cisco Global Broadband Quality Score

Thirteen years ago Malaysia proclaimed the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) as “a gift to the world” and the centrepiece of the country’s strategic initiative to leapfrog the nation into the IT era to become one of the world IT powers.

Since then, MSC and Malaysia have faded away from the world radar screen as an international IT hotspot – and Malaysia’s unchecked plunge in IT international competitiveness in the past decade has been confirmed by another adverse global study, the 2009 Oxford/Cisco Global Broadband Quality Score.

This study of the global state of broadband quality put Malaysia 53rd out of 66 countries in terms of the quality and reach of its networks – understandably behind countries like Korea, Japan, Sweden, Denmark, United States but also trailing countries we should be leading like Turkey, Chile, China, Qatar, Brazil, Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Cyprus, Costa Rica, Bahrain, Thailand, Tunisia, Mexico, Philippines and UAE.
Continue reading “Malaysia in unchecked plunge in IT international competitiveness as illustrated by another adverse global study – the 2009 Oxford/Cisco Global Broadband Quality Score”

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What happened to Malaysia Today

By Malaysia Today’s technical team

With so much confusion and speculation making its rounds about what is happening to Malaysia Today over more than a week, we are compelled to offer our explanation so that the record can be set straight. Only limited technical details will be mentioned to allow you to appreciate the scale of challenge the site is facing.

You may now be aware that the site has been up and down since Friday, 17 September 2009. This was due to malicious activities by those behind the effort to cripple Malaysia Today. This is just one of the many rounds of cyber-attacks that we at Malaysia Today have had to face for more than a year now.

Coincidentally, this latest round of attacks started immediately after RPK’s explosive expose two weeks ago on Tuesday regarding the Malaysian Cabinet’s knowledge and ‘approval’ of the PKFZ scandal long before it became public knowledge. Suspicious activities against the site happened as early as Wednesday, but the first damage was done in the afternoon of Thursday, which brought the site down. Continue reading “What happened to Malaysia Today”

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Raja Petra’s Malaysia-Today website not accessible – any connection with disclosure of the PKFZ Cabinet documents?

Raja Petra Kamaruddin’s Malaysia-Today website is not accessible.

Has it anything to do with the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) documents, including Cabinet papers, on the website in the past three days?

New Straits Times reported today that investigations have been ordered into Malaysia-Today’s disclosures of secret official government documents showing how the Port Klang Free Zone issue had spiraled into disaster.

The Attorney-General Tan Sri Gani Patail was quoted as saying that if the document was genuine, action could be taken against the editor of the website under the Official Secrets Act.

The time has come for the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak to honour his pledge of public accountability, transparency, integrity and good governance which must include a commitment to freedom of information and respecting the right of Malaysians to information about the entire process as to how Malaysia could be landed with a RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal through three Prime Ministers, three Transport Ministers and four Port Klang Authority Chairmen.
Continue reading “Raja Petra’s Malaysia-Today website not accessible – any connection with disclosure of the PKFZ Cabinet documents?”

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‘Massive attack’ strikes websites

BBC News
High-profile websites including Google, Facebook and Twitter have been targeted by hackers in what is described as a “massively co-ordinated attack”.

Other sites such as the blogging platform Live Journal were also reportedly targeted.

Twitter was taken offline for more than two hours whilst Facebook’s service was “degraded”, according to the firms.

Google said it had defended its sites and was now working with the other firms to investigate the attack.

“Google systems prevented substantive impact to our services,” the company said in a statement. Continue reading “‘Massive attack’ strikes websites”

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Horror of horrors – BN government wants to put up Internet filter blocking “undesirable websites” in total violation of the MSC guarantee of no internet censorship!

I had tweeted: “Horror of horrors. BN govt wants Internet filter 2block ‘undesirable websites. Dear Rais – “Et tu Brutus”? M’s MSC guarantee?”

This must be the common reaction of Malaysians, particularly in the Malaysian cybersphere, blogosphere and twitterverse to the Malaysian Insider report that the Malaysian government is evaluating the feasibility of putting an Internet filter to block “undesirable websites” — similar to China’s aborted “Green Dam” software.

Malaysian Insider reported that the Minister for Information, Communication and Culture Minister Datuk Dr. Rais Yatim is commissioning a study which is to be completed in December to filter blogs and websites.

Rais’ Ministry had initiated a tender exercise calling for companies to put proposals to assist the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) evaluate an Internet filter.
Continue reading “Horror of horrors – BN government wants to put up Internet filter blocking “undesirable websites” in total violation of the MSC guarantee of no internet censorship!”

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Ministry of Health website latest fatal casualty of the A (H1N1) killer pandemic?

The A (H1N1) flu pandemic toll in Malaysia jumped by four in the past 24 hours from nine to 13.

The latest fatality is six-year-old Mohd Hyafiq Aiman Mohd Saiful Afendi, first death from Pahang, who died at 12.40 pm yesterday after he was admitted to the Tengku Ampuan Afzan (HTAA) Hospital, Kuantan after he developed fever and complained of stomach ache.

The other three latest confirmed A (H1N1) deaths were a three-year-old girl, 12-year-old boy and a 20-year man – all from Malacca.

Since the first case of A (H1N1) flu death two weeks ago on July 23 – a 30-year-old Indonesian – the rate of fatality has increased in pace and numbers, as illustrated by the following table of fatalities:

July 23 – 1 (KL)

July 27 – 1 (Subang Jaya)
Continue reading “Ministry of Health website latest fatal casualty of the A (H1N1) killer pandemic?”

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Can Malaysia get out of the information black-hole as a result of snail-pace broadband to join the ranks of super-fast broadband nations?

I have received a report from my IT Manager Goh Kheng Teong on his meeting at a TM Customer Engagement convened by Telekom Malaysia last Friday on July 31, 2009 in Bangsar following his constant badgering of Telekom Malaysia with complaints about atrocious Streamyx service with little results.

The Engagement was attended by seven customers and some 30 TM staff led by Jeremy Kung, Executive Vice President, Consumer and Chief Executive Officer of TM Net Sdn. Bhd.

I find Goh’s report of great public importance if Malaysia is get out of the information black-hole as a result of snail-pace broadband to join the ranks of super-fast broadband nations and be among the front band of internationally competitive nations.

I have decided therefore to make Goh’s report public to initiate a public debate to ensure that Telekom Malaysia is not allowed to abuse its monopoly position to impede Malaysia’s long-delayed quantum leap to become an information and communications technology power.
Continue reading “Can Malaysia get out of the information black-hole as a result of snail-pace broadband to join the ranks of super-fast broadband nations?”

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Streamyx: What is going on?

This is from Goh my blog sysadmin:

to < [deleted]@occ.vads.com>,
help
cc limkitsiang
date Wed, Jul 8, 2009 at 8:53 AM

subject what is going on?
mailed-by dapmalaysia.org

Follow up message

ping to limkitsiang.com whopping 56% packet loss. if that is not
enough ping to www.adobe.com is 69% packet loss.

If you think packet loss have nothing to do with Internet, you may as
well go and DELETE the wikipedia entry here :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Packet_loss

ping -c 100 limkitsiang.com
PING limkitsiang.com (67.207.142.122) 56(84) bytes of data.
[deleted]

— limkitsiang.com ping statistics —
100 packets transmitted, 44 received, 56% packet loss, time 100301ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 292.039/304.333/361.149/15.790 ms

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Broadband is snailband

Rais: No plan to register bloggers
By Husna Yusop and Giam Say Khoon | The Sun

KUALA LUMPUR (June 18, 2009) : The government has no plans to list or register bloggers and they are still free to post information on the internet, Information, Communications and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim said today.

“There are various processes of disseminating information these days. Whatever the authorities do, the websites are still free to post any information on the Internet.

“At the moment, we do not list or register bloggers operating on the Net. And, there is no plan to do that. However, to maintain harmony in society, they (bloggers) must follow the laws,” he told Lim Kit Siang (DAP-Ipoh Timur).

Lim in his supplementary question said the plan to register bloggers, made by some quarters recently, was a backward move.

Last month, Rais was reported saying the proposal was good but required indepth study.

Lim also complained about the broadband service which he said can also be called “narrowband” or “snailband”.
Continue reading “Broadband is snailband”

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Website launched as part of the effort to get to the bottom of the “scandal of scandals” in the nation’s history

Today, a website on the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal, http://pkfz-scandal.org/ is launched as part of the effort to get to the bottom of the “scandal of scandals” in the nation’s history.

I am very disappointed with the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) decision that its Chairman, Datuk Seri Azmi Khalid need not disqualify himself and step down from the PAC inquiry into the PKFZ scandal, despite a clear conflict of interest, as he was a Cabinet Minister from 2004 to 2008 when the Cabinet took many critical decisions resulting in the ballooning of the PKFZ scandal from RM1.1 billion in 2002 to RM4.6 billion in 2007 and now RM7.5 billion and heading towards the astronomical cost of RM12.5 billion.

I never suggested that Azmi has any personal interest in any PKFZ transaction but as a Minister involved in the decision-making process resulting in the PKFZ project becoming the “mother of all scandals”, he should be a witness appearing before the PAC to testify why he as a Minister had supported the Cabinet decision in July 2007 to bail out the PKFZ project at the astronomical cost of RM4.6 billion – when the Cabinet should know that it would mushroom further to RM7.5 billion and later RM12.5 billion instead of heading a PAC inquiry into it.
Continue reading “Website launched as part of the effort to get to the bottom of the “scandal of scandals” in the nation’s history”

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Streamyx in Malaysia really sucks

On Saturday, I blogged “Streamyx in Penang sucks. What do you say?”

There were 32 responses.

Conclusion – Streamyx in Malaysia really sucks.

Until recently, Streamyx service in Green Lane area in Penang had been fairly reliable. But not now, as disruptions have become quite common.

What do you say when not only Streamyx went down, Maxis 3G and Celcom 3G were also down, all at the same time, in the same place and for quite a period!

I do not know how often this happens in Penang as I am all over the country most of the time.

But from responses, Malaysians have universal internet complaints rather than universal internet service.

Other countries are leapfrogging into super-fast broadband networks while Malaysia is still bogged down with super-slow broadband service. Continue reading “Streamyx in Malaysia really sucks”

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Kit Siang Tweets

Kit Siang Tweets
He uses the Internet tool to update on Perak’s political turmoil
By JOSEPH KAOS JR | Malay Mail | 13 May 2009
[email protected]

TECHNOLOGY has made it possible for hundreds of people to experience the Perak political turmoil through the lenses of Lim Kit Siang.

Using the increasingly popular Internet tool Twitter, the veteran politician has been feeding his “followers” with minute-by-minute updates on the Perak crisis.

Although the latest happenings can be gathered from online news websites, many turn to Twitter instead as Lim’s updates are posted as soon as it happens. This is possible with the help of the handphone web services.

“Entering the Menteri Besar’s office now,” said one of his Twitter updates, or Tweets. “MB’s office empty except some stationery,” revealed another.

Considering that all sorts of changes occur in Perak before anyone can say Jack Robinson, people will be eager to have the information as soon as possible.

The 68-year-old Lim defies the stereotype that most older people are rather clueless about embracing technology. Besides being among the first few politicians to set up a blog site, Lim also has a Facebook account.

To date, Lim has 505 Twitter followers.
Continue reading “Kit Siang Tweets”

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Rais Yatim – be Minister for Broadband instead of Minister for Propaganda and Blogs

Datuk Seri Dr. Rais Yatim was named Minister for Information, Communications, Arts and Culture in the Cabinet of Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak 12 days ago.

Since then, “Arts” have been dropped from the longish name of his Ministry although the portfolio remains with him.

However, his pronouncements since becoming Minister for Information, Communications and Culture have raised eyebrows and questions whether he is turning back the clock of the information age, as illustrated by the following headlines of one newspaper in the past few days: “Rais warns of legal action against errant private groups and bloggers” (15 April 2009), “Govt wants to ensure Internet not abused” (16 April 2009), “Rais: Do not abuse the Internet” (17 April 2009).

Rais has been in the Cabinet of five Prime Ministers, Tun Razak, Tun Hussein, Tun Mahathir, Tun Abdullah and now Najib.
He will end his Cabinet career in less than glorious terms if he regards his present stint as a Minister for Propaganda and Blogs instead of being a Minister for Broadband. Continue reading “Rais Yatim – be Minister for Broadband instead of Minister for Propaganda and Blogs”

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Does Najib want to turn Malaysia into a criminal state?

Umno/BN leaders in Perak are mortally afraid of the Democracy Tree under which the Perak State Assembly convened on March 3, 2008 although the Perak Speaker and the overwhelming majority of the Perak Assembly members were locked out of the Perak State Assembly in the State Secretariat building by an illegal and usurper Mentri Besar and State Executive Council.

Umno/BN leaders in Perak are mortally afraid of the Democracy Tree plaque commemorating the historic occasion where the spirit for democracy in Perak refuse to be quashed by arbitrary, high-handed and illegal exercise of “usurper” executive power.

Umno/BN leaders in Perak are now mortally afraid of information technology and the DVD on the Democracy Tree which recorded for posterity the events leading to the historic Perak State Assembly under the Ipoh Raintree!

This was why DAP Perak State Assemblyman for Tebing Tinggi Ong Boon Piow was arrested by the police for allegedly violating the Film Censorship Act 2002 in not getting approval and a B certificate from the Film Censorship Board before “manufacturing, circulating, distributing, displaying” the Democracy Tree DVD.

This is a draconian law which must be repealed. It provides for a mandatory minimum fine of RM5,000 and up to RM30,000, three years’ jail or both, for any conviction under the Act. In other words, an MP or State Assembly member found guilty under this charge would automatically be disqualified as an elected representative in view of the mandatory minimum fine of RM5,000 – as a fine of RM2,000 and above in a criminal charge is sufficient to cause such disqualification. Continue reading “Does Najib want to turn Malaysia into a criminal state?”

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Blog access

Note from sys admin :

We continue to receive complaints regarding access to the blog. Such as,

Sdr Lim, i have no problem accessing to other sites except your blog. I think they blocked your site. Please tell your IT people.

We strongly believe this is mainly due to the damage to TM Net’s
international link to North America via Asia Pacific. The international link named by TM Net in an announcement on 24 February 2009 is APCN2. According to their statement, “TM expects the complete recover of its services by 5 March 2009.”

We also understand that not all streamyx users are affected equally. Those with IP address starting with 118, 115 and 124 are affected severely while those with IP address starting with 60 experience almost no interruption. To check what IP address you are on, visit http://myip.dk.
Continue reading “Blog access”