Oleh/By : DATO' SERI DR. MAHATHIR BIN MOHAMAD
Tempat/Venue : THE MINES RESORT CITY,
SERI KEMBANGAN,SELANGOR DARUL EHSAN
Tarikh/Date : 16/09/97
Tajuk/Title : THE MULTIMEDIA ASIA 1997 (MMA `97)
CONFERENCE AND EXHIBITION
INVENTING OUR COMMON FUTURE
1. On behalf of the National Information Technology
Council (NITC), let me warmly welcome all of you to the
second Multimedia Asia Conference and Exhibition, the MMA
`97.
2. At last year's MMA, we officially announced the MSC -
- as a giant test-bed for experimenting with not only
multimedia technology but also, and more importantly, the
evolution of a new way of life in the unfolding age of
information and knowledge. The MSC is therefore our `gift
to the world' -- a creation that would welcome the
participation of the global community in sharing the
useful lessons of multimedia development.
3. One year has gone by and much water has flowed under the
bridge. There have been raised eyebrows as to whether
Malaysia can pull it off but, on the other hand, there has
also been much support for the MSC. Both the international
community and Malaysians alike,I believe, understand better
the concept of the MSC now. I am sure as more programmes
under the MSC roll out, greater understanding and clarity
will ensue.
4. Several ground-breaking events had taken place since
the launch of the MSC. In January, we had the first
meeting of the MSC International Advisory Panel (IAP), a
panel made up of CEOs from leading IT companies around the
world. In May, the foundation stone for Cyberjaya, MSC's
dedicated intelligent city for multimedia companies, was
laid. In addition, the other anchor-projects in the MSC,
Putrajaya -- the smart new administrative capital -- and
the new Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) are
progressing well. In the month of May also, four
cyberlaws were tabled and passed in the Malaysian
Parliament. In July, the Multimedia Development
Corporation (MDC) issued the Concept Request for Proposals
(CRFPs) for bids by private companies to spearhead four of
the seven flagship applications -- electronic government,
smart schools, telemedicine and multipurpose card. And
today, the MMA -- with its theme of `Benchmarking Smart
Solutions' -- is our attempt to invite and emulate best
practices from around the world. We want to learn from
the best.
5. We have a clear vision for Malaysia called Vision
2020 -- to attain developed-nation status by the year
2020. We want to become a developed nation in our own
mould. Malaysia's IT Agenda defines the content of the
mould as the creation of a Civil Society. By Civil
Society we mean a community which is self-regulating and
empowered through the use of knowledge, skills and values
inculcated within the people. Such a society will allow
every Malaysian to live a life of managed destiny and
dignity, not just in the here and now, but also in the
hereafter. The million dollar question is, of course,
`How can we achieve it'.
6. The manufacturing sector has become the mainstay for
Malaysia's sustained economic growth of between seven to
eight percent over the last two decades. According to our
calculations, to achieve our target of a developed nation,
the growth rate must continue to average at least seven
percent until the year 2020. However, we anticipate that
the manufacturing sector's contribution to GDP will peak
at around 38 percent by about the year 2005. It is
obvious to us that we need a second engine of growth if we
are to achieve Vision 2020. This second engine has to be
jump-started by the year 2005. But, can we do it?
7. We read the charts and studied the trends. We tried
to put our finger on the pulse of the forces that will
shape the socio-economic tapestry of the future. One
consistent pounding beat was digital. Thus, we decided to
make the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)
the dynamo for growth -- within all economic sectors. To
get a clearer focus on this new and powerful agent of
change, in 1995, we formed the National Information
Technology Council (NITC).
8. The basic role of the NITC is to advise the
government on ICT policies and strategies and to help
operationalise them. Since we are literally moving into
the unknown and we expect rapid and radical changes it is
prudent to test our ideas first before implementing them
nation-wide to avoid costly mistakes. Hence, the MSC as a
test-bed. We hope the MSC will make the first ripple
which will turn into a tidal wave and engulf the whole
country, transforming it into a global multimedia hub in
its wake. The National IT Agenda provides the broad
policy framework for propelling this transformation
towards the creation of a Civil Society. The Agenda
outlines a three-pronged strategy to achieve a knowledge
society through people, infrastructure and application
development. Needless to say, digital technology will
provide the underlying creative force.
9. If you had noticed, I used the word `creation' with
reference to Vision 2020. This was deliberate.
`Evolution' or `development' would imply maintaining the
status quo -- of mere continuity. The digital wind is the
harbinger of discontinuities. Breaks will take place --
breaks will have to be made -- in the way we think, work
and live. To our minds, the break from the past will be
the most crucial -- and the yawning gulf to the future
must be bridged -- the MSC is our tentative first bridge.
It is within this context that the MSC must be viewed. We
see the MSC as the seed that will sprout the Civil
Society. The MSC is our first investment for the future.
In fact, the MSC is our experimental tool for inventing
our common future.
10. Inventing the future does not mean forecasting the
future -- no ordinary mortal can do that. It means
setting in motion certain agents of change now, taking
into account current realities and future uncertainties,
in the hope that what we envision may be attained. This
implies reinvention -- reinvention in virtually every
field of major significance. This is precisely what we
are attempting to do with the MSC. For example, through
the electronic Government Flagship, we hope to reinvent
governance; through the Smart School Flagship, we hope to
reinvent education; through the Telemedicine Flagship we
hope to reinvent healthcare; and, through the Borderless
marketing Flagship we hope to reinvent business practices.
11. I see governance as the `umbrella' concept embracing
and defining this process of reinvention and therefore is
the most important. Reinventing government is not
something that we have just thought about. In fact, we
have been doing it for sometime. As a first step, we
started to restructure the government machinery -- slim it
down to make it more efficient and effective. The idea is
to hold only strategic public portfolios within the
government machinery such as defence, justice, finance and
to privatise much of the rest. In this respect, public
good service functions such as telecommunications, power
and railway transportation, traditionally under the aegis
of the government, have now been privatised. This process
is tied closely with another idea we experimented with --
the Malaysia Incorporated Concept -- where the government
and the private sector work closely together to develop
the nation. And I must say, we have been quite successful
in implementing both these concepts.
12. The idea of an Electronic Government is the second
stage in our ongoing quest for right-sizing governance.
Electronic governance is not merely governing through
electronic means. The technology is just the means to an
end -- the end being revamped structures, systems and
procedures to implement change and striving for excellence
above and beyond previously attained levels. Therefore,
the move from Kuala Lumpur to Putrajaya is more than a
physical migration. It is also symbolic of discarding old
legacies and old mindsets -- a move towards information-
driven frameworks for performance-based management and
services. And, we hope, this move will set in motion a
paradigm shift in ways of thinking, working and living.
13. We in Malaysia are, of course, fully aware and
realistic that inventing the future, and by implication
reinventing existing realities, is not as easy as it
sounds. The journey is going to be difficult -- dotted
with pitfalls and challenges all the way. We are also
aware that we cannot do it all by ourselves. We admit
that we do not possess the required technologies nor the
knowledge within ourselves to do what we want to do. But
our spirit is willing; our bodies are strong; our economic
fundamentals are right; and, we are willing to work with
others and to learn -- and to learn fast.
14. Learning by doing -- that is how we did it in the
past and that is how we intend to journey forward. Through
the Malaysia Incorporated Concept, we successfully
transitioned from an agricultural-based economy to an
industrial one within two decades. And, concerns for
distributive equity were not ignored either. We now have
time tested techniques -- we are confident they will stand
us in good stead for a repeat performance.
15. Therefore, with the MSC we would like to take the
concept of Malaysia Incorporated a step further -- towards
global smart-partnerships. We would like to invite the
world community to join us to shape a common future
together.We invite collaboration instead of confrontation,
enrichment instead of exploitation, sharing instead of
grabbing. These should remain the watchwords -- these
should provide the basis towards evolving a just and
equitable global society.
16. The recent United States' `Framework of Global
Electronic Commerce' initiative advocates non-regulated
private-sector leadership. The market, as you know,
rewards the efficient and punishes the inefficient and the
less able. Efficiency and equity do not go hand-in-hand.
Therefore, leaving the digital economy to a self-
regulating market will only widen the gap between the info-
rich and info-poor. The laissez faire market is myopic,
interested only in the bottom-line -- with no concern for
social justice. Can a free market really replace
responsible governance? Laws and regulations are irksome.
We should reduce their roles but certainly anarchy cannot
be better for the market place.
17. In the information age, the new basis for power,
wealth and influence will be knowledge. No one has a
monopoly of knowledge or wisdom, meaning no one can have
all the power, wealth and influence. Potentially,
therefore, anyone can add and acquire power and wealth.
This should lead to a more open and equitable society.
However, currently knowledge tends to stick with the well-
endowed. The children of the well-to-do and the well-
educated will have a head-start to a good education over
the less fortunate, giving them access to power and
wealth. This will lead to a society where the rich and
educated will get richer and more powerful, and the poor
and uneducated, poorer and weaker. How do we prevent this
from happening?
18. These questions, more than anything else, point to
the need for a new framework of governance where the
concerns of distributive justice exist alongside a free
market system for the digital economy. There is therefore
a need for the international community to begin a dialogue
towards formulating a new global framework for information
age governance and towards nurturing a global civil
society. May I suggest a virtual forum called the Virtual
Commonwealth of Nations where all nations are equally
represented and the participation truly democratic.
19. The world, figuratively speaking, is shrinking
rapidly. Multimedia and networking technologies will,
through videophony and videoconferencing, put people from
around the world in face-to-face contact. Multiculturalism
will be the way of life in the future. The signs of a
global village are already here. We need to make
adjustments so that our closeness to each other will not
result in our stepping on each other's toes too
frequently. Instead our closeness and more frequent
exposure to each other and to information about ourselves
should enable us to develop a strong sense of
neighbourliness. In time we should be able to develop a
multicultural global society.
20. As we witness the death throes of the industrial era
ethos and sense the birth of another -- one that will be
founded upon information and knowledge -- should we not
take it upon ourselves to manage our destinies instead of
leaving it entirely to the free market system? We are not
retreating from the borderless world and unfettered trade.
It is simply that human society needs order and a degree
of certainty for it to function at all. Occasional chaos
may be managed but endemic chaos must affect society and
life negatively. The disappearance of the border between
nations simply means that a bigger entity or a new and
world encompassing nation would emerge. Knowledge by
itself is not going to make this huge single human tribe
live in peace. Certainly unregulated free trade even if
backed by massive information will not result in wealth
and happiness for everyone.
21. We can all plunge into the information age with our
eyes closed. But why should we when there is the
possibility of testing and finding out how things will
work or will turn out. Malaysia's MSC is an attempt to
create the environment for testing not just the technology
but the way of life itself. The opportunities for
experimenting are unlimited. We need only to think up
possible scenarios in order to experiment and test. We
will not get all the answers but we should not be groping
in total darkness as we enter the next millennium and the
Information Age.
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