The 1Malaysia Notebook Programme has been running for quite some times. It did receive a lot of good reviews and praises during the initial launch. However, people started to question that the government could have provided better quality and practical software so that the programme would be more effective in meeting its intended purpose.
In my opinion, the government should also provide free and compulsory computer classes for the 1Malaysia Notebook recipients, so that they can put what they learn into practice and improve their knowledge and skill in their everyday lives, study and work.
There are several aspects of the programme which we can do better with, including the installing latest software that should be up to date. Cutting cost by installing outdated software will defeat the purpose.
Given the fact that, generally, the recipients are computer newbie, it would be a waste if the notebook is not of suitable specification and they do not know how to do the upgrading. In addition, the recipients may not have the fund to upgrade their 1 Malaysia notebooks, as they are from the lower income group.
It was recently reported that 1Malaysia Notebook programme had been abused by some. The recipients were posting ads online to sell the netbooks for some quick money.
It is learnt that the purported facebook posts selling netbook have received overwhelming replies with many queries on price and appointments of dealing.
The government has distributed the 1Malaysia Notebooks through MCMC throughout Malaysia with the intention of helping the poor students.
It is intended to enable poor students to be more connected to the internet so that the digital gap between the rich and the poor can be narrowed down.
Unfortunately, not all recipients appreciate the government effort. After receiving the netbook, they sell it online and make a quick buck from it.
To my knowledge, the phenomenon of selling 1Malaysia notebook has been going on for some times. Some people even mention in online social media that 1Malaysia notebook is useless to them.
I have learnt that not all 1Malaysia notebooks are the same; there are different brands by different vendors and each commands a different price.
The well-known brands sell a higher price. For example, seller would offer RM500 for a computer worth RM1,000, while the average ones can fetch between RM300 to RM400.
All these have to be stopped. The recipients must appreciate the government effort in assists the poor and needy to be computer savy. Equally, the government should come out with rules to punish the recipients who have infringed the rules and/ or abuse the government’s assistant given to them.
This is to ensure that any policy to assist the poor and needy will not be abused by any persons. Regulation is the best option to curb abuses of government’s assistance to the poor and needy.
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