Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Malaysia deemed a haven for poor privacy protection
A few days before Malaysia was unceremoniously tarred with the wide brush of corruption by Transparency International, the Associated Press carried a report revealing Malaysia as being one of the worst nations in providing privacy protection for its citizens. While the little-known Privacy International, which carried out this study is little-known, Malaysia should not dismiss this survey, because, foreign investor perceptions will be inevitably shaped by international studies of this nature. Malaysia should not be grouped together with China, well-known for its harsh treatment of its citizens and which freely censors the Internet. But this survey has done just that, and the government, without being defensive and dismissive of the results, should find ways to counter this negative perception. Perception is a tricky creature; it has this annoying habit of being bigger than it truly is, if left to fester on its own.
Singapore was also identified as one of the worst culprits in giving only lip service to privacy protection to its people but Singapore has assiduously cultivated a positive image amongst foreign investors, doing all the right things to ensure precious investment inflows continues to flow like an open tap. Malaysia in contrast, seems to be moving in the other direction. And so, coupled with a higher perception of graft as a way of life in Malaysia as well as vivid images of the people in Malaysia being watched by men lurking in shadows and cyberspace, the country will have a higher mountain to climb, in order to tell the world that Malaysia is not a sinister destination. It is a fallacy, of course, to even imagine a utopia-like environment, unshackled by the burdens of control – every nation practices some form of mechanism to keep track of what its citizens are up to.
Malaysia is miles ahead of countries such as Singapore, which does not allow any dissent even in cyberspace on pain of severe retribution. We are a more mature society than we give ourselves credit. Malaysians are allowed to write and criticize the powers that be – if this wasn’t so, my late father, writer MGG Pillai, would have been locked up long time ago. Even during the major ISA round-up of dissidents, orchestrated by UMNO in the mid-1970s and in 1987, my father was unscathed when he already had a reputation as a fiery, erudite writer who pulled no punches.
Invasion of privacy does occur in Malaysia; my father shrugged off the inconvenience of his telephone being under surveillance in the 1970s and more recently in the 1990s. He also had his fair share of “observers” watching his movements to find out who his friends are. This was of course, before 9-11, when the whole world, including Malaysia got a gift-wrapped excuse to step up the monitoring of private emails and telephones, to fight the “real” enemy – terrorism. ¶ 8:49 PM
Singapore was also identified as one of the worst culprits in giving only lip service to privacy protection to its people but Singapore has assiduously cultivated a positive image amongst foreign investors, doing all the right things to ensure precious investment inflows continues to flow like an open tap. Malaysia in contrast, seems to be moving in the other direction. And so, coupled with a higher perception of graft as a way of life in Malaysia as well as vivid images of the people in Malaysia being watched by men lurking in shadows and cyberspace, the country will have a higher mountain to climb, in order to tell the world that Malaysia is not a sinister destination. It is a fallacy, of course, to even imagine a utopia-like environment, unshackled by the burdens of control – every nation practices some form of mechanism to keep track of what its citizens are up to.
Malaysia is miles ahead of countries such as Singapore, which does not allow any dissent even in cyberspace on pain of severe retribution. We are a more mature society than we give ourselves credit. Malaysians are allowed to write and criticize the powers that be – if this wasn’t so, my late father, writer MGG Pillai, would have been locked up long time ago. Even during the major ISA round-up of dissidents, orchestrated by UMNO in the mid-1970s and in 1987, my father was unscathed when he already had a reputation as a fiery, erudite writer who pulled no punches.
Invasion of privacy does occur in Malaysia; my father shrugged off the inconvenience of his telephone being under surveillance in the 1970s and more recently in the 1990s. He also had his fair share of “observers” watching his movements to find out who his friends are. This was of course, before 9-11, when the whole world, including Malaysia got a gift-wrapped excuse to step up the monitoring of private emails and telephones, to fight the “real” enemy – terrorism. ¶ 8:49 PM
