The Enigm@ Chronicles

Only in Malaysia can you find biased scholarships!

Only in Malaysia can you find race-based policies that determine scholarship allocations!

Only in Malaysia is the needy yet deserving students marginalizes when it comes to scholarship allocations!

We call this Malaysia Boleh! And mind you that’s nothing to be proud about. Every year it’s the same thing all over again. Straight A’s students who for no good reason are deprived of the opportunity to further their studies - all because biased policies that are the norm ensure that these deserving students are not allocated scholarships.

The PSD claim of ensure all straight A’s students receive scholarships is a farce of magnanimous proportions. Once more, as has happened for years on end, top scorers are still denied scholarships. Instead the large portion of scholarships end up going to lesser performing students who might or might not be deserving the funds. Worse still is that there are cases of the rich and well provided for who somehow still manage to get scholarships. In a system that rewards the mediocre and forgets the top performers, the Malaysian education and scholarship machinery can only be surmised to be biased and lacking in foresight.

Policies that practice racial biasness in the allocation of scholarships will only engender further racial discord. In their agenda to raise one race above the others, these shortsighted policies of the government is greatly ignoring the fact that the boycotted top performers of today are the building blocks of this county’s future. When you ignore your future’s prospects, you are only undermining your own self.

Chances are the top performers will have to look to other avenues to find a means to further their education. This usually results in their taking up of foreign scholarship offers. For years it has been a known fact that Singapore has displayed more foresight in luring those top performers that are blatantly ignored here in Malaysia over to their country. And the chance is high that those who except the offer will often choose not to come back to their homeland.

After all were you in their shoes, can you honestly say that you want to come back and serve Malaysia - the very country that couldn’t be bothered to provide for you? Let us not kid ourselves here. The answer is most definitely a resounding NO!

As for myself, a person who has already completed his studies I am already past this stage of mockery in our education system. All that is left for me to decide is in due course when I do decide to have kids - will I want to put my children through the same process that is highly likely to continue it’s biased ways and practices? I most probably would be seriously looking at other avenues which might result in my having to migrate away from Malaysia. I don’t want to but circumstances dictate otherwise.

Royal professor Dr Ungku Abdul Aziz first made the claim that the fabled Ketuanan Melayu (Malay Supremacy) was never a physical contract and was ‘coined‘ by politician to further their agenda.

He was quote saying the following at a forum in Shah Alam recently:

“There is no such thing as social contract. It was a fantasy created by politicians of all sorts of colours depending on their interest”. (refer to this article from The Star for full details)

Rightly so when a learned academician with the stature of Dr Ungku Abdul Aziz makes such a statement, there has to be some degree of truth to it. More so in light that his claim has open the proverbial can of worm on how the Ketuanan Melayu agenda has always been a political agenda from day 1 right up to this very day.

Therefore it is unsurprising to learn that a follow up report, here,  by independent news portal Malaysiakini that took the very questions on the substantiality of Dr. Ungku Abdul Aziz statement to recognised expert and academician for their own opinion, lo and behold they all agree that ‘Ketuanan Melayu‘  or the social contract of fable is just that - a political spin to further political agenda!

The detailed elaboration of the prominent academician have been quoted, word by word, in a short summary below. For the full report please head on to Malaysiakini to read it yourselves. These are their views:

Professor Shamsul Amri Baharudin, UKM’s Institute of Ethnic Studies (KITA) director

The translation of ketuanan Melayu is wrong. It is not Malay supremacy, it is Malay sovereignty. Ketuanan is a very colonial term. Abdullah Ahmad had very little knowledge as to what it means when he first raised it in 1986. Sovereignty is not a foreign concept as it is prevalent in other countries such as Belgium and England with monarchs. The idea that Malays are the boss and the rest is not, is a misconception.

Professor James Chin, Head of Arts, Monash University

The documents deposited in ISEAS (Institute of Southeast Asian Studies) library by MCA elites states clearly that the Malays will get special help in things like the civil service and scholarships but there will be a time when these will stop.

This cannot be confused with the constitutional rights that was agreed to in Article 150 to 153 because it has no details. The constitution does not spell out the operations of the special rights like the New Economic Policy (NEP) on quotas and equity ownership. All it says is that Malay will have special privileges.

Dr Mavis Puthuceary, Associate Research Fellow at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM)’s Institute of Malaysian and International Studies (IKMAS)

Political parties are using the social contract out of this context and it has no meaning in Malaysia. So that’s why we need a discourse and debate on this. We need to work out a national consensus in figuring out what and where do we go from here and now. We can all agree that something more than a bargain was made when the state was formed but I won’t call it a social contract.

Dr Azmi Sharom, Associate Professor, Law Faculty, University Malaya

However, to a certain extent it is true - the special privileges involves safeguarding the Malay language, the Sultanate and Islam on the surface appears to be going against the grain of equality. The non-Malay Malaysians were happy to accept this then. But the idea of give and take does not extend to the concept of Malay supremacy created by political parties, namely Umno.

The original constitution has elements of compromise but that compromise is from the layman’s perspective, the document does not suggest Malay supremacy or mastery. Ketuanan Melayu is a fallacy. I just don’t see the justification for this. The so-called social contract is relevant only to racists and people who want Malaysians to continue to be divided along racial lines.

Dr Johan Saravanamuttu, visiting researcher at ISEAS, Singapore

On ketuanan Melayu, there si no such thing as ketuanan Melayu. It is a concoction by political entrepreneurs by Umno on promoting Malay supremacy. The constitution does not say anything about Malay supremacy but only on the special privileges such as land and language afforded to them. It is the jaundiced Malay politicians who use it too embed themselves in position or create and perpetuate power for themselves.

Dr Chandra Muzaffar, academician and political scientist

I don’t see ketuanan Melayu as part of the social contract or Merdeka constitution. By accepting the Malay polity, it does not make Malays and non-Malays unequal and it doesn’t make non-Malays second-class citizens. ketuanan Melayu is an idea that is an impediment to ethnic relations for the country. It does not mean one race is dominant and another race is subordinate or a master-servant connotation.

The above statements are all made by recognised academician who are experts in their respective areas. When you have a full 100% agreement of context between all 5 of the experts you cannot deny that there is a whole lot of truth behind their statements.

This than makes you wonder what backlash the politicians who have milked the ‘Ketuanan Melayu‘ agenda will next invoke to further drive the learned and their opinions to the foreground. Unfortunately we cannot totally discount the idea that certain parties or personages will definitely be prepared to stoke the fires of racial tensions in order to evoke emotions to override further discourse on the matter - in a worse come to worse scenario. I for one sincerely hope that things do not resort to that level.

Iraq was a blunder and a total mess for both the US and the UK. Yet have they learned their lesson. The answer on that is still vague.

Earlier while I was reading the latest news on the recent rice stockpile shortage, I began to wonder how exactly did this problem come to be. After all rice is the staple diet of Asians and for a country like Malaysia to be caught unprepared in the face of global food shortages just smack of plain incompetence.

I use the word incompetence justly so in lieu of the fact that the government has the necessary mechanisms in place to monitor and be ‘in the know’ about the possibility of such an issues as the rice stockpile shortages actually coming to be. So where did things take a turn for the worse? Based on my initial research the fault lies at the feet of Padiberas Nasional Bhd (BERNAS) .

For your information BERNAS is the privatised custodian of the Malaysia paddy and rice industry. BERNAS is the sole importer of rice into Malaysia besides also being in charge of the National Rice Stockpile. In essence they are the sole importer and overseer of rice in Malaysia. Already the share market is seeing a rise in BERNAS shares as the recent increase in rice prices coupled with the presured buying trend locally - all of which has contribute to a favarouble outcome for BERNAS. Unfortunately this does not translate to being favourabel for the rakyat .

It is their position as overseer is where I definitely find fault with BERNAS for failing to be prepared for exactly such the scenario of increasing trends of rice shortages that we are now experiencing. In their ignorance BERNAS has until recently maintained only 2 WEEKS worth of rice stockpile for the entire of Malaysia. That’s right 2 weeks of rice supply before it runs out in a worse come to worse case scenario. This is why there have been recent spate of consumers in huge droves snapping up rice due to concerns that our rice stockpile can easily run out in just 2 weeks.

Looking back to just last year, when any trend forecaster worth his salt could have predicted increases in food prices in addition to the decrease in global stockpiles. Unfortunately BERNAS was more inclined to ignore the situation and instead focus on increasing the price of rice sold locally . I haven’t the precise details right now but it is known that BERNAS is importing rice at cost prices while selling it in Malaysia for a higher price, thus earning a profit.

If BERNAS wasn’t farsighted enough then at least the government to some degree were already prompting BERNAS to increase their national stockpile to cater for future trends. In reference to article(below) from The Star dated July 12 2007 , we can see that the government was already informing BERNAS to increase their stockpile:

Create a big stockpile, Muhyiddin tells Bernas

Padiberas Nasional Berhad (Bernas) has been told to create a stockpile so that the country will not be plunged into a crisis if there is an acute shortage of rice globally.

Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said that although Bernas had a floating stock of 92,000 tonnes of rice in the local market, it could not be considered the country’s stockpile.

“We are afraid that any shortfall in global supply and increasing global demand for rice would affect us.

“And there are already early signs in the region where the demand for rice has gone up while the rice producing countries’ yield had dropped due to disease, floods and weather changes,” he said.

He was speaking to reporters after his ministry’s weekly post-Cabinet meeting here yesterday.

Muhyiddin said he was not trying to alarm the public.

“But we need to look at future trends. This is why we need to look at having an appropriate amount of rice stockpile for the country,” he added.

If that was not enough then the same call was repeated beginning this year with more emphasis being made for a 3 month rice stockpile plan to be put into place. This is highlighted in the the following article(below) from The Star dated 31 January 2008 :

Bid to up rice stockpile to three months

The Government wants Bernas to stockpile rice for three months or more to ensure there is sufficient supply for the people in the event of a shortage.

Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said the current agreement was to have a two-week stockpile.

“We believe that two weeks is not enough, so there is a need to review to, say, three months.

“We need to have more than the stock we have at the moment to create the actual stockpile for the rice later.

Therefore in lieu of the calls made to BERNAS from the government to increase the National Rice Stockpile to a 3 month capacity has fallen on the deaf ears of BERNAS . Already 9 months has passed since the initial call had been made to BERNAS and as of yet no credible action has been taken .

Only now in light of the worsening conditions of worldwide food shortages and the recent limelight on the insufficient national rice stockpile that BERNAS has made moves to increase the stockpile. This too was partially due to pressure from the government.

So the pertinent question that we must ask ourselves is it is fair for us the rakyat/consumers that BERNAS is allowed to continue to be the sole importer of rice for our country. The lack of any competition in this sector can only be regarded as a monopoly and a possibly unfair one at that!

First he said this…

Rais: Proposal meant for those under 21

“There’s some misunderstanding. I was referring to boys and girls who travel on their own, especially those below 21 and who are still subject to the supervision of their parents. Women above 21 years old are adult enough.

“But for those below 21, it’s only fair that parental guidance be given,” he told reporters at a press conference here at the end of his working visit to Indonesia yesterday.

Then he also goes on to say…

Rais said the consent need not necessarily be in the form of papers or letters of declaration, as that would be a big hindrance.

“What I meant was those below 21 should be guided; parents should ask why they want to go to Venezuela or Spain.

And to top it all off he retorted with….

“But if this is regarded by human rightists to be against human rights, wait until their own children get into trouble,” he said.

I don’t think must can be said for Rais and his statements above. But if anythins should be said then ‘A total blunder‘ is the first words that leap to mind.

Here we have the Foreign Minister making half-past-six like ‘blanket‘ statements with little though of the possible outcome or public outcry in regards to what can only be termed as a draconian law to be imposed on women.

But wait as the furore rises Rais then comes out saying same something very much along the line of “… Right, I meant to say that only for those below 21 years of age….”!

DUH!!!

To all Ministers and MP’s - please don’t send the perception out to the world that some of our ministers and MPs are not all that bright and don’t put much thought before making their statements. And please, please don’t insult our intelligence by blaming your blunder on the standard byline of ‘misunderstanding‘ or ‘misquoting‘!

The latest in what is surely a long long list (unproven due to lack of tangible proof) of the mismanagement of public funds (read: rakyat’s monies) is the highly embarrassing escapades of PM Badawi and DPM Najip.

News first surfaced on the web via the ever delightful Lulu’s blog, and was then picked up by MP Tony Pua with his blog post containing the direct question and reply of the current issue in parliament.

The question:

Berapakah jumlah perbelanjaan yang ditanggung oleh Kerajaan sepanjang tempoh kempen Pilihan Raya Umum ke 12 dari 24 Februari sehingga 7 Mac 2008 hasil dari penggunaan jet eksekutif Kerajaan bagi kegunaan YAB Perdana Menteri dan YAB Timbalan Perdana Menteri.

The answer:

Bagi tempoh 24 Februari sehingga 7 Mac 2008, jumlah perbelanjaan untuk penggunaan jet eksekutif adalah sebanyak RM792,325.20.

Now the thing that really gets to me is that in the time period specified (24 Febuary to 7 March 2008) these personalities were by right not entitled to the right and privileges of their positions as they had reverted to being candidates and not the actual PM and DPM.

So while campaigning to be re-elected, these leaders of our government were in actuality squandering the rakyat’s monies on flying themselves all across the country in order to campaign.

And mind you this are the very same people who have the cheek to tell us rakyat to live within our means a.k.a ubah gaya hidup!

Meanwhile to offer you readers a contrast let me point out that the new CM of Penang Lim Guan Eng was recent spotted seated in the economy class section in the plane on his flight back to Penang.

Once again this is another failure to walk the walk after talking the talk in the case of the PM and DPM.

Tsk, tsk, tsk, ….

I find it downright perplexing to see the chasm of a difference between the political issues that have been in the limelight. Take for instance the recent harping by certain parties on the Pig Farm Project issue in Selangor vs. the Malaysian "Angkasawan" program .

On one hand we have a R&D cum glorified tourist program, the Malaysia Astronaut Program where USD 36 million of Malaysian taxpayers monies were utilized to send 1 Malaysian into space. That’s right all that money for 1 guy. Ostensibly there were 6 space experiments to be done that would apparently launch Malaysia into the space R&D field. What the outcome of the experiments were we still have yet to hear about it. Any tangible benefit from the experiments will be years in bearing fruit whilst the regular joe rakyat today will be facing issues like rising prices. The program was for pure political mileage in my opinion.

On the other hand you have the Modern Pig Farm project in Selangor. Here is a project that has attract a fair bit of attention recently - be it positive, negative and sometime spiteful. However when you dissect the project plans you’ll find that that baring some minor administrative costs the entire project is self-reliant in terms of private funding and only requires the approval of the state government in terms of the land allocation. Yet when this zero-burden project is given the green light we have the naysayers coming out and telling the PR Selangor government off for their decision.

Have these people lost their common sense?
Are they too fixated on the religious side of the issue instead of the overall outlook?

Understandably, any issue concerning pigs in this country will certainly be considered as an important issues in lieu of the religious concerns of the national religion. However I have to wonder up till where does religious concerns matters when place side by side against extravagant taxpayers monies wastage as seen with the Angkasawan program. As the times start to experience economic uncertainty, I find myself worried sick that more wasteful programs similar to the Angkasawan program will be enacted by the government.

Finally!!! Thank god JPJ is finally making a concentrated effort in regards to the abuse of windscreen tints and most especially xenon headlights (i.e. HID Lamps) by Malaysian drivers. More and more cars on the road nowadays have xenon headlights and these headlight are a pain in the ass for the other drivers.

Just imagine being rendered temporarily "nightblind " by a an approaching car’s xenon headlights and you will get the gist of my dislike of these type of headlamps. Time and time again this has happened and I am sick and tired of it. Similarly these xenon touting cars are also generally the ones that have ’super-tinted ‘ windscreens - which ironically protects them against the glare of other xenon headlights.

There are some mention of downturned HID Lamps that do not flash oncoming drivers, but as far as my experience goes these are either rare in my driving routes or plain non-existent! And since some drivers who get the xenon headlights are either ignorant of the fact or just plain insensitive - I say regardless of the reasons, they are at best a distraction or a at worst a menace to the other drivers who on the streets’ driving.

So I say kudos to JPJ for taking the effort to put a stop into these xenon headlight cars. My suggestions to you is to take a no holds bared approach. Saman each and every one of these drivers and as long as they don’t change keep on saman-ing them. I don’t care how much the so-called regular joe has to pay the saman as long as they get it into their heads that xenon lights are a menace to the other drivers on the road.

Also let this not be a short-term only approach. JPJ must keep up the pressure of these drivers and keep it up for the foreseeable future. Just conducting a month or two of operations will not change anything.

July deadline for windscreen tints, xenon headlights

KUALA KRAI: Vehicle owners flouting Road Transport Department (JPJ) regulations on windscreen tinting and xenon headlights be warned – you have until July to comply with the rules. JPJ enforcement division director Salim Parlan said the department continued to encounter vehicles with heavily tinted windscreens and flashy xenon headlights, particularly the imported luxury vehicles.“I hope they will adhere to the specifications set by JPJ on tinting windscreens and xenon headlights,” he said.

FYI for a look at the other side of the fence, head on over to the discussion forum @ LowYat located here .

update: Not surprisingly the rakyat has responded in a multitude of ideas & suggestion in as much as complaint against Azalina’s highhandedness on the cancellation of the tourism MoU’s. See here .

When new Tourism Minister Azlina last week announced that the tourism MoU’s signed with the 4 new Pakatan Rakyat (PR) states are to be terminated there was an avalanche of criticism from all quarters. Loudest on the matter was of course the PR led state governments’ leaders and no shortage of public opinion was drummed up in the days following the announcement.

Yesterday Azalina "cleared the air" on the issue and stated that the cancellation of the MoU’s would not discriminate against any state, tourism organisation and also the rakyat themselves. When I said she "cleared the air" what I specific meant is that reading between the lines of her statement we are presented with a few viewpoints on how things should work in Azalina’s book.

* * * N O T E * * *
From this point forward are all conjecture(s) on the writers part and cannot be claimed to be fact in absence of cold hard proof!

Retention of tourism funds and its various money flows in the hands of BN.

Reason numero uno behind Azalina’s decision in my opinion is that the tourism allocation and funds that are normally granted to the Tourism Action Councils (TAC) - nominally lead by the state exco members - must remain in the hands of BN . Basically now that PR has come into power in the 4 new states, BN members will no more be able to sit on the TAC councils. Hence if things were to remain as they were then the PR state exco’s would have had access to the monies and thus have the capability to carry out tourism activities or events on their own. This of course is a big no no and the result is her decision to cancel the MoU’s with the states. Nowhere more clear is the point made than by her own self:

On whether the Pakatan state governments will have access to the funds, Azalina said: "The difference is who signs the cheque - they sign the cheques or we sign the cheques?
"This is the federal government, so we sign the cheques. What’s the big deal?”

Continuation of the infamous "Satu Lagi Project Kerajaan BN" propaganda in terms of the tourism activities.

Tied hand in hand with the first reason above is the mentality of continuing the not so subtle propaganda of the "Satu Lagi Project Kerajaan BN" . If the Tourism Ministry can control and direct the TAC in the PR held states then they can conduct all the tourism activities and events under the all encompassing umbrella of brand BN . This can later on be used as political mileage come the next general elections. Just recall the various highlights that tourism events in Kelantan were given in the local MSM - ultimately affording BN all the kudos. My point is somewhat justified in lieu of the following statement:

Tourism Ministry secretary-general Dr Victor Wee explained that there were two issues in the matter.
Firstly, TACs in the opposition states will no longer be headed by the state excos for tourism and will instead be led by him or a person appointed by the minister, he said.
"And second, is the way the funds will be channeled. The funds will no longer go through the states but through a federal mechanism. Because of the nature of the new political scenario, the MOUs with the states will be cancelled.

Staying true to her "Politics is a marriage of convenience" agenda.

Just last week Azalina was quoted to have said that politics is a marriage of convenience . Her point is well justified by her own actions with her high handedness of cancelling the tourism MoU’s in the Pakatan held states. The priorities in her opinion is most definitely not for the betterment of the tourism industry, the economy and that of the rakyat directly affected. Rather most likely first and foremost priority is BN itself and ensuring that it’s powerbase is protected . Again the line of thought here is that as long as BN can dole out the proverbial crumbs , matters will have to go through them for their approval and blessing.

On the way the funds are channeled - instead of money going to the Pakatan state governments and it will now go to ministry-controlled committees - the minister said that it was the federal government’s perogative.
"It applies to all the states which is being led by opposition government. This has happened for the past few years with Kelantan and we’ve never discriminated as far as tourism projects are concerned. We’ve been very fair.”

Thus the actions of Azalina in her capacity as the new Tourism Minister can be viewed either way. Justifying her point of view is her statement that tourism activities and events will continue to go on in the Pakatan governed states - only it’ll be under the purview of the federal government. But anyone who can connect the dots will see the decision for what it truly is - a desperate attempt at grasping for the reins of power to be held as firmly as possible in the hands of BN, with any means necessary.

Reference:

1. Malaysiakini - BN doesn’t discriminate, Azalina tells MBs
2. The Star - Azalina: Tourism MoUs with Opposition-ruled states to be terminated

When Penang CM Lim Guan Eng first made the call to implement open tender policy for the island state there were all sort of reactions. From the cries of the naysayers and political opponents who were on the brink of inciting tension to the warning from the prime minister himself - Guan Eng certainly did not expect to get such a vast reaction.

And yet as the days go by and as the political driven rhetoric take a back seat, the staunch support of the business community has come to the fore. From the various economic chamber and communities to big business, one and all have lauded the move to ensure a more transparent and open method for project tenders to be issued. What’s more is that the initiative is both parallel and complementary to the policy previously put in place by the Finance Ministry which sadly has previously taken too long to get any visible traction under the federal government.

Now following in the tracks of those who have come forward in support of the open tender policy is the ICT associations who represent the ICT industry - an industry that is both a major presence in and also a big stakeholder of Penang and its economy. This new show of support only strengthens the support advocated thus far for the open tender policy and bodes well for the economic future of Penang under the Pakatan Rakyat(PR) rule. On the flip side, if PR manages to implement and properly manage the open tender policy in Penang as the first test bed state, Barisan will be in dire straits if they continue to dilly-dally on the matter in all other states they control. 

The following article from The Edge Daily provides the details which is brutally frank and to the point on the difficulties faced previously without the open tender policy. This is a must read for those of you who have not quite grasped what the open tender policy will mean for Penang.

ICT firms back call for open tender

KUALA LUMPUR: Two of the nation’s premier ICT associations have come out in support of the open and transparent tender system that has been adopted by the Penang state government.

Among the reasons cited are increased business confidence in the government as well as taxpayer protection via increased accountability in government expenditure.

Association of the Computer and Multimedia Industry (Pikom) chairman David Wong said transparency will project a good image and boost confidence among investors.

“If you don’t practise open tenders, you risk a loss of public confidence in the government,” he said. “By being open and transparent, you also help prevent corruption, although it cannot be 100% foolproof.”

President of the International Association of Software Architects (IASA) Malaysia Timothy Nam has a similar view.

“Seeing how an increasing amount of essential government services are dependent on IT, this is the best thing that could happen,” he said. “It will give citizens an insight into the actual value and service quality they are getting.”

Nam said the cost of not practising open tenders in the country can be clearly seen in the number of public sector IT projects that have experienced cost overruns and cancellations.

Wong said closed tenders runs a higher risk of the project being awarded to an incompetent vendor and the lack of options will lead to overpaying and limit the government’s ability to get the best possible deal.

“Many contractors choose not to participate in government bids because they know they do not stand a chance of winning, even though they can offer quality services and competitive prices.

“The perceived lack of transparency and corporate governance in project tenders has negatively affected the ICT industry,” he said.

IASA Asia Pacific president Aaron Tan said the cost is not calculated only in financial terms, but also leads to erosion in Malaysia’s reputation.

“A lack of transparency and clarity in tenders do not bode well for Malaysia which is intent on becoming a regional ICT hub.

“Via open and transparent tenders, the public will benefit from companies providing quality services to the government. This will strengthen the local ICT industry and positively impact other sectors as well. Such a move will reflect maturity and confidence that speaks well of Malaysia’s goal of becoming the region’s ICT hub,” he said.

While there is fear among some segments of the bumiputera community that they may be disadvantaged by the move to implement openness and transparency, Wong said anybody with competitive services has nothing to fear.

“The decision on the successful bid should be made clear and all should be informed of the processes and criteria involved,” he said.

Furthermore, he said, the government has a duty to assist small and medium enterprises develop their capabilities to gain market access.

Nam said that this change will benefit the majority and they will appreciate that such a move by the government has the public’s interest at heart.

Wong also called for a single destination Web portal to manage the tender process in an orderly manner.

Pikom represents the ICT industry in Malaysia through its 750 member companies that comprise 80% of the total ICT trade in Malaysia.

It is best known among the public for its popular PC Fair event which attracts thousands of shoppers in search of tech bargains.

It is also co-organiser of the upcoming WCIT 2008 on May 18 in Kuala Lumpur. WCIT is the world’s largest gathering of ICT leaders and decision makers held every two years and is billed as the Olympics of ICT.

IASA Malaysia, the country chapter of IASA, is the premier association for IT architects. It has about 6,000 members in 50 countries, including 400 in Malaysia.

IASA is organising the IT Architect Regional Conference in Kuala Lumpur on April 22, bringing together government officials from Thailand, Indonesia, India, Singapore, India, Vietnam, Korea and Malaysia to address the needs of the various national ICT initiatives.