Govt doesn’t buy opposition to IT law

Seventy-one percent of official feedback oppose the Board of Computing Professionals Bill, but the government doesn't trust this result.

KUALA LUMPUR: Despite overwhelming opposition against the controversial Board of Computing Professionals Malaysia (BCPM) Bill, the government is still convinced it has support.

The Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) received a total of 70 official “feedbacks” in regards to the drafted law during a two-day period from Dec 13 last year.

More than two-thirds of the groups surveyed by the ministry did not approve of the bill.

“The number of official feedbacks was 70, received from both individuals and organisations. 29% supported the proposed Bill, but nonetheless, this number may not reflect the overall segment of the ICT (information and communications technology) community,” the ministry said in a statement .

It added that a “better comprehension” of the proposed Bill was needed, and that “all views” in the community needed to be “catered for”.

Going by this, MOSTI said it proposed “extensive further consultation and engagement”, adding that such a move was endorsed by the Cabinet Committee on Human Capital Development (CCHCD).

“This endeavour will include all relevant stakeholders and consultation with the National ICT Human Resource Taskforce that initially proposed the establishment of the BCPM,” the ministry said.

This study, it added, would be analysed before being presented to the CCHCD for a final decision, which MOSTI said was chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.

In early December last year, computing and information technology (IT) workers raised an uproar against what they feared was a government attempt at registering them.

They worried that they would only be allowed to work in their respective areas after they registered themselves (and paid a fee) before the proposed BCPM.

At the time, MOSTI said that the BCPM would only apply to professionals working in a field known as the “Critical National Information Infrastructure” (CNII).

According to the Bill – which was leaked online in the form of a 56-page document- the CNII involved areas connected to national and economic security.

MOSTI also denied that the Bill was an attempt to regulate the ICT industry.