darthone; yang remeh dan yang temeh

THESE days, visitors to Menara Star in Petaling Jaya don’t have to scribble their particulars in a logbook. Nor are they required to leave some form of identification at the security desk. All they need to do is go up to a terminal, insert their MyKad and the relevant information is recorded.

This is not that much of a novelty because MyKad-based visitor registration systems have been around for a few years now. Nevertheless, it must still be odd for many of us to use our MyKad for anything other than identity verification in our dealings with government departments and financial institutions.

But in fact, MyKad was conceived as something more than a high-tech replacement for the laminated identity cards we used to carry around.

When launching MyKad in September 2001, then Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said, “MyKad will be recognised worldwide as the Malaysian multipurpose, citizen smart card, the world’s first multi-application card.”

The project started in the late 1990s as one of the four flagship applications that were meant to kick-start the Multimedia Super Corridor (now MSC Malaysia).

This is what you’ll find on the Multimedia Development Corp (MDeC) website: “The development of a national MyKad flagship application enables the government and private application providers to implement smart card solutions without duplications of effort and investment.

“The project was successfully implemented with the issuance to 2.59 million people in the Klang Valley as of October 2002, and has been extended nationwide since 2005. The card is embedded with a security enhanced 64K microprocessor chip that is multifunctional across varying systems.

“MyKad can be used for the following purposes: national ID, driving licence, passport information, health information, Touch ‘n’ Go, MEPS Cash, ATM (automated teller machine) and public key infrastructure.”

The key phrase here is “can be used”. More than a decade after the idea of a multi-purpose smart card for all Malaysians was floated, we still see MyKad as primarily an identity card. That’s like doing nothing but word processing on a personal computer.

The underutilisation of the MyKad infrastructure is almost criminal. A few years ago, it was reported that it cost the Government RM33 to produce each card. A recent report says there are about 20 million MyKad owners. Going by these numbers, some RM660mil has been spent just to issue the cards.

What about the investments in the other components of the infrastructure, such as the tens of thousands of various forms of MyKad readers and MyKad-based recording systems? Throw in the money spent on developing applications for MyKad, and we may be taking about billions of ringgit.

The prevalence of the cards (and to some extent, of the card readers) in Malaysia dangles before us a great opportunity to boost reach and efficiency. What we have here is a way to digitally connect to 20 million people and to offer them the convenience of making a range of transactions using a single card.

Of course, there are reasons people shrink away from the multi-functional promise of MyKad. Some fear theft or misuse of the information contained in the cards.

For a long time, there has been no sturdy counterweight to that concern. But the Personal Data Protection Bill has been tabled in parliament in the current sitting.

Its passage will allow the authorities “to regulate the processing of personal data of individuals involved in commercial transactions by data users so as to provide protection to the individual’s personal data and thereby safeguard the interests of such individual”.

Then, there’s the common argument that having a multi-purpose card is risky because it’s akin to putting all your eggs in one basket. There’s the worry that a damaged or missing MyKad can result in massive hassles or even losses.

This is a matter that needs to be addressed by the Government, but surely there are ways to ensure a speedy replacement of the cards and the information. Besides, losing a multi-functional card is no different than losing your wallet or purse.

This is not the only issue that the Government needs to tackle. It has to ensure that the relevant agencies are on the same page in promoting and encouraging the adoption of the additional MyKad applications.

In addition, some industry players believe that it is difficult to build an ecosystem around the MyKad infrastructure because it doesn’t work on an open source operating system. This too may require the Government to step in to lay the middle path.

·Deputy business editor Errol Oh dreads having to hand over anything bearing his photograph to strangers; he frets that he’s being cruel to them.


this article link : the star

nah kau! antara projek membazir wang dan projek menguntungkan pemodal kapitalis.
bagi pengguna yang agak ganas seperti aku, MyKad adalah teknologi terbangang pernah wujud.

dengan ketahanan kad cuma beberapa tahun, menukar kad memakan kos paling kurang sepuluh ringgit dan cip yang cepat jahanam, adakah ini bagus. cuba kita renung kembali zaman kad pengenalan "laminate" ala-ala lesen sekarang. lebih tahan lama, kos yang agak murah untuk dijaga sebab boleh "laminate" banyak kali, tiada kerisauan cip rosak sebab tiada cip pun.

bagi aku, kembalikan semula kad pengenalan lama. MyKad hanya menyusahkan. apa kata anda?