Malaysia plans to offer every adult in the country a free Web-based e-mail account to ensure that tax returns, court documents and other official notices reach the population of 28.3 million.
The government has named Tricubes Berhad, a local smartcard reader and authentication software vendor, as the operator of the service. Starting from July, the company will begin setting up a email account for citizens over 18, with a goal of total coverage by 2015, company officials said.
Read more: Malaysia to open e-mail accounts for every adult by 2015
The 1 Malaysia Email Project, purportedly to allow a direct and secure communication between citizens and the Government, is criticized by many for being an unnecessary government expense. It requires a small fee of 50 sen (less than $1) for activation under the National Registration Department.
Azli Paat, who is also Adavista Sdn Bhd director, said the official e-mail would facilitate interactions with the government departments and agencies.
"The should not arise the question of this effort making it easy for the government to monitor the public's e-mail or allowing it to send e-mail straight to the 1Malaysia e-mail account," he said when contacted by Bernama, here, Sunday.
Read more: 1Malaysia E-mail To Facilitate Public And Government Interactions
The international APSS network will cover countries like Singapore, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong and the United States to ensure individuals with serious criminal records do not get travel access.
Immigration Department director-general Datuk Alias Ahmad told the New Straits Times the APSS would enable Malaysia to filter out foreigners who may be a threat to national and international security.
Reiterating that the project was a private sector initiative and does not involve public funds, Datuk Seri Najib said signing up for the 1MY E-mail would be on a voluntary basis.
He explained that the initiative had been evaluated by the Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu) and was announced as one of seven new projects under the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP). He told this to reporters after launching the Saham Amanah Malaysia Week 2011.