After countless of announcements, twists and turns, the 1Malaysia email project which was at first announced as a national initiative but then changed to a private initiative, to me it seemed like it was going to be another waste of time, and money, and perhaps my sanity as well. So here is what I actually think about the initiative.
So our Prime Minister has declared that it is a fully private initiative and no public funds will be used for this project. Great, what I am more concerned is that, how much are they going to charge the government for the service and would those rates be competitive compared to other service providers. Why this is important? Because I pay taxes and I don’t want the government to use my tax money on useless initiatives which does not benefit any of the rakyat.
Then came this article on TMI.
KUALA LUMPUR, April 26 — Those signing up for the controversial 1 Malaysia email service will have to sign up by buying a USB-biometric device sold by Tricubes Berhad or go to any National Registration Department office to get their myemail.my account activated, the company said today.
Tricubes chief executive officer Khairun Zainal Mokhtar said users get a basic account for free but will have to pay if they want their mails to be more “secure” with encryption
So from a free email for everyone, we need to buy a USB biometric device sold by them (apparently to make it more secure) and then pay an additional fee to make it secure. And then they say they want to charge the government RM0.50 for each email sent. Now seriously, RM0.50 for each email sent? Are you kidding me? Worse of all, if they just spammed email to email accounts which are incorrect, will the government be charged for those as well?
With all these extra charges, it really is just a waste of time and money and I personally see no benefit at all that it can provide to me. In all fairness, here are some of the promises they provided.
- myemail works just like regular email and more. Get notices, news and replies from government agencies directly to your MyEmail inbox. You never have to sign up for another email account ever!
- With 25GB of storage you can store documents, photos, etc. online in the cloud and finding emails is easy with the built in search tool.
- Create, edit and save Microsoft® Word, Excel and Powerpoint documents using yourmyemail id. Access those documents anywhere by using your browser.
- You don’t need to learn anything new. Send, receive and save emails securely usingmyemail, just like you would with regular email.
And after all of these complaints and rants on our social networks, it is finally said and reported that Tricubes is relying on this project or it will be delisted from Bursa. There we go, the real truth behind a company that is fighting to stay in Bursa by offering “free” emails to Malaysians. Why is it required that they have to come up with the 1Malaysia email to stay listed?
Their target is to achieve a sign up rate of 5.4 million users within 6 months. That is quite a large target and frankly, I wouldn’t want to sign up for it as well as I would deter everyone I know from signing up with the email service. But then again, everyone I do know are smart enough not to sign up for it.
It’s not just about the integrity of the whole project and why suddenly you get extra charges such as USB devices as well as paying for additional security, its also about the technology behind it and the stuff that they offer. Personally I have stopped using my Hotmail emails mainly because I hate the cluttered layout of the Hotmail web interface. Secondly, my Gmail is so integrated with the other tools within the Gmail suite that I wouldn’t bother creating another email account on top of all the other email accounts I already have.
Seriously, I think Tricubes can come out with a better idea and service to provide in order to stay afloat in Bursa especially since they spent so much cash on R&D.
Also to note that this initiative is meant to enhance the delivery of public services. In all logical thinking, as a member of the public, I perceive that public services is enhanced through efficient means and puts less stress on the public. In short terms, this should equate to less waiting time for the public, less queues, less paperwork and red tape, quick turnaround time and many other ways to enhance the delivery service. With all of the more convenient ways I can think of, using and adding on another burden of another email account is NOT convenient for the user.
- I have to think of another password to remember for this new 1Malaysia account mainly because if I use the same password as other email accounts, it wouldn’t be secure anymore
- I have to consider PAYING EXTRA just to get a more secure connection
- I have to bring around the USB Biometric device, I probably have to buy another one at some exorbitant fee should I misplace mine or if it gets stolen
- I have no guarantee’s on the performance of the email since I just clicked on http://www.myemail.my and after 5 minutes, the site hasn’t loaded yet.
- If I changed my email to this email, I have to tell everyone, resubscribe my newsletters and update various websites/forums/groups with my new email address. Doesn’t seem so convenient for me.
Anyway I leave it up to you to decide on whether it will be beneficial or more convenient for you by using myemail.my. Personally, I would definitely perceive better delivery of public services if they were to use my email address which I have already stated in so many government forms. I am sure the government can channel their funds to focus more on ways to make our lives better and convenient.
