Pakatan calls email a/c another 1 Malaysia handout
By Shannon Teoh, The Malaysian Insider
PUTRAJAYA, April 19 — Pakatan Rakyat (PR) flayed the Najib administration today for spending RM50 million on a new e-government project that includes a 1 Malaysia email account for all Malaysians aged 18 and above, calling it part of a “circus” to hand out contracts.
Opposition lawmakers told The Malaysian Insider that the accounts will allow the government to play “big brother” and monitor all Malaysian adults.
“People are now making fortunes out of the 1 Malaysia circus,” DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang said.
The Ipoh Timur MP also said that the move by the Barisan Nasional (BN) government was “big brotherism gone mad”.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced today that a one-stop web portal for government services will be developed with an initial investment of RM50 million.
He said the email account will allow direct and secure communication between citizens and the government.
“Are we so backward that we need Najib to get us an email account?” Lim asked.
The veteran politician also said that after news sites like Malaysiakini and Sarawak Report were crippled from Internet attacks during last week’s Sarawak election campaign, the government should look into Internet security issues first before creating an estimated 16 million email accounts for the public.
