Malaysians Gathered on Facebook to Protest Against 1Malaysia Email

The 1Malaysia email plan for every Malaysian to receive an official email account isn’t getting any love from its people. Today, over 35,000 people gathered on a Facebook page, titled “1M Malaysians who don’t want Najib’s 1 Malaysia email” to protest against the government’s move.

While the idea may help in the long run, most Malaysians were angered by how $16 million was spent on things that citizens could simply get for free. One Facebook user said, “Dear PM there’s something called Gmail.”

Some commented that the initiative was good but the wrong benefits were highlighted when the Malaysian government rolled out the plan. The price tag “$50 million Ringgit” was emphasized rather than communicating that the email account is free for all Malaysians to use. Others commented that the money would be better used to improve Internet penetration rather than giving email accounts when a significant number of people in Malaysia still cannot access the Internet.

With a 64 percent Internet penetration, Malaysia currently has about 17 million Internet users, according to Internet World Stats. Countries like Japan and Taiwan have above 70 percent penetration rate.

Interestingly, Facebook is again used as a platform for people to gather and have a unified voice. We also saw similar case studies in India where Facebook played a significant role in Anna Hazare’s fight against corruption.