the __earthinc

I am still on the 1Malaysia email controversy. I must admit, this is starting to get ridiculous because its investment cost is only RM50 million. That is nothing compared to other big projects announced which on the surface and without being too ideological at least, are a-okay. For such a small project, maybe I am criticizing PEMANDU too harshly.

Nevertheless, I find the way the whole issue has been handled infuriating. Each piece of information makes me angrier: as it turns out, the email will cost the government RM0.50 per unit. It is not free, as it was promoted earlier.

A PEMANDU director justified the cost by stating it would save the government money. He compared the RM0.50 per unit cost to the cost of sending out actual mails, which is RM1.00 per unit.^[1]

Saving or not, I am unconvinced that there is a need for that email, as with a lot of other Malaysians out there. Do we even need to pay for the RM0.50 in the first place, hence saving even more, if saving is a concern?

Another other concern — out of many unstated here — and the driver of this post is the director’s comparison of the RM0.50 per unit cost to the RM1.00 per unit of sending out actual mail. The director’s logic is completely sound, if each comparable actual mail is replaced by exactly one email and that there is no additional email sent out.

The 1Malaysia email at the moment however appears like any normal free email out there, except that it is authenticated. Supposedly, that is the main point. The question is, what if a person uses the 1Malaysia email for everyday use?

I typically send out between 5 to 10 emails per day. I receive even more daily. If I use the 1Malaysia email exclusively (I hate having multiple email accounts), these everyday emails will add to the cost of running the program.

Who will pay the cost of sending out email?

Also, there will be a breakpoint where saving turns into additional expenditure. The breakpoint will not be too big, which makes the chances of incurring additional cost highly likely. This is based on the assumption that the government typically does not send out too many letters to citizens. I personally have not received a letter from the government so far this year. In the previous years, if I am not mistaken, I received only one yearly.

Now, what if a spammer gets his hand on the account?

In short, I doubt this will be a cost-saving exercise. And again, who will pay for it?

^[1] — Fadhlullah Suhaimi said he expected agencies to pay Tricubes about 50 sen per e-mail, cheaper than the RM1.00 printing, stationery, postage and dispatch cost of sending a regular letter.

He said that, as the per unit cost of regular mail might double to RM2.00 if a misaddressed letter was sent back on the taxpayer’s dime, the government stood to save between 50 sen to RM1.00 per e-mail.

”The poor taxpayer, without realising, is actually allowing wastage of RM2.00 per post that goes out,” Fadhlullah Suhaimi said.

He cautioned, however, that these expected savings were based on Tricubes’ own estimates. He said the actual cost per unit would vary depending on the volume and complexity of the transaction, as well as the number of people who eventually sign up. [Pemandu: Government agencies to pay for 1 Malaysia email database. Yow Hong Chieh. The Malaysian Insider. April 21 2011]