Mahathir’s open and refreshing attitude on the Internet should be emulated by other Cabinet Ministers, some of whom seem to have developed Internet-phobia

by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and MP for Tanjong, Lim Kit Siang, in Petaling Jaya on Monday, 11th September 1995:

Mahathir’s open and refreshing attitude on the Internet should be emulated by other Cabinet Ministers, some of whom seem to have developed Internet-phobia

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamed’s open and refreshing attitude on the Internet is most welcome and should be emulated by other Cabinet Ministers, some of whom seem to have developed Internet-phobia.

Mahathir said during a dialogue with the Malaysian Students Executive Council from the United Kingdom in Kuala Lumpur yesterday that it was up to Internet to make their own judgment on what is good and bad.

He said Malaysia had no choice but to indulge in information technology, including the Internet, if it wanted to keep pace with global development.

He said that although negative elements were available to Internet users, banning it would only deprive Malaysians of the opportunity to increase their knowledge.

This open and refreshing attitude is in great contrast to what has been said by other Cabinet Ministers, particularly the Information Minister, Datuk Mohamed Rahmat, who had warned Internet users, threatened government Internet censorship and accused Malaysian students overseas of smearing the country’s image.

Mohamad should realise that there is no effective way to censor Internet.

The Internet was designed to withstand a nuclear attack and censorship is a bit less powerful than that. As a result, the Internet interprets censor material on the Internet effectively. Because the Internet is faceless and timeless, it is almost impossible to keep something out of one place if it is accessible elsewhere on-line.

May be, if Mohamed is so obscurantist as to regard Internet censorship as the topmost priority of government policy, then the only way is to shut down Internet in Malaysia by closing down Jaring and Malaysia-On-Line – although this will still not be 100 per cent effective.

Malaysia should have an Information Minister with a vision to build a National Information Infrastructure to propel Malaysia into the information technology era than one who is obsessed with Internet censorship and other outmoded concepts and values.

But this will mean shutting up Malaysia, turn Malaysia into an inward-looking nation like Myanmar and scrap the Vision 2020 for Malaysia to become a developed nation – probably making Malaysia as the only country in the world to opt out of information technology!

It is fortunate that the Prime Minister’s views are more open and enlightened than that of the Information Minister – or Malaysia will be turning the clock back when the world is moving into cyberspace.

Mahathir should consider whether it is not time for Malaysia to have an Information Minister who has a vision to build a National Information Infracture to propel Malaysia into the information technology era rather than one who is obsessed about Internet censorship and other outmoded concepts and values.