KUALA LUMPUR, 1 June 2009: Although the internet, particularly blogs, could be used to frighten people and create panic, it is also useful for making the truth known, said former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
He said the knowledge that can be accessed through the internet is limitless, but knowledge and its acquisition could be for good or evil.
“The blogs, for example, can be used to demonise people, scare them and create panic. The SMS (Short Message System) can be used for similar purposes.
“But we know how useful they can be for making the truth known and for individuals to air their views and feelings freely,” he said in his speech at the inaugural launch of OSDC.my and Open Source Industry Global Linkage here today.
Mahathir revealed that during his premiership, he had been told that there was no secrecy on the internet, and since the government was using it a lot, he had suggested the country should develop its own operating system.
“I think a lot of computer-savvy government staff tried hard but got nowhere,” Mahathir said. — Bernama
Siva says
Firstly, improve the internet infrastructure. There has been no significant improvement of any kind for sometime now.
What happened to Broadband over Powerline (BPL)?
Gopal Raj Kumar says
Interesting that someone should raise the question of broadband over powerline. There is a powerline communication chip created by a Korean-Australian venture now being introduced into the region which has enormous potential to solve a number of issues from monitoring and controlling power usage at the domestic and industrial supply level and as a control device for home automation. How green will the place be with its introduction.
Semitech has recently been introduced into Italy, Tasmania and La Trobe university, Australia with IBM Germany, and a large Indian construction company introduced it into India.
In fairrnesss to Malaysia, it is one of the few countries I believe had the foresight to take a closer look at this particular technology. Broadband in this respect is not always necessary.