PARLIAMENT | A war of words erupted between Transport Minister Wee Ka Siong and his predecessor Anthony Loke (Pakatan Harapan-Seremban) during the former's Budget 2021 winding-up speech in the Dewan Rakyat today.
The atmosphere became more charged when Wee explained why he moved to reinstate the cabotage on foreign ships involved in the repair of submarine Internet cables, which has upset tech giants like Microsoft, Google and Facebook.
The tech giants argued that Wee's move will hurt Malaysia's Internet stability as it will cause delays in the repair of Internet submarine cables when they are damaged.
However, Wee maintained the cabotage policy would help reduce reliance on foreign ships, reduce the outflow of foreign currency, encourage the participation of Malaysian vessels in such repairs and in turn help develop local technical expertise.
It would also ensure Malaysia’s sovereignty, Wee added.
Loke, who approved the exemption back in March 2019, responded by saying that no Malaysian vessel had the ability to perform the submarine cable repair tasks swiftly.
The exemption, he said, had been given to shorten repair time, improve Internet stability and encourage global technology companies to invest in Malaysia.
When Wee insisted that members of the Malaysia Shipowners Association (Masa) should be given a chance to rise to the challenge, Loke demanded answers from the minister.
Loke: But do we have such expertise right now? Right now, at this moment when you are imposing the cabotage, are there companies that are able to do the job? Yes or no?
Wee: There are.
Loke: You are lying!
The DAP lawmaker continued to accuse the minister of lying, prompting Speaker Azhar Azizan Harun to intervene and call for calm in the House.
Wee denied telling any lies and said he had been informed by Masa that Malaysian vessels should possess the “technical know-how” to repair underwater cables, regardless of the type of ships.
This week, technology companies Facebook, Google, Microsoft and the Malaysian Internet Exchange reached out to Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin to caution that the “abrupt” cabotage reinstatement would slow down Malaysia’s Internet speeds.
They also warned of a monopoly of cable repair work by one shipping company - Malaysia’s Optic Marine Group.
Masa, meanwhile, deemed the cabotage a “patriotic” move and said foreign vessels could still operate in Malaysian waters and seek Masa’s endorsement for a domestic shipping licence exemption (DSLE).
Gobind Singh joins the fray
During Wee’s speech, Gobind Singh Deo (Harapan-Puchong) accused the minister of misunderstanding the issue at hand.
The former communications and multimedia minister shared that technology companies previously urged the Harapan government to speed up underwater cable repairs to enable them to invest in building data centres in Malaysia.
The average submarine cable repair time in Malaysia is 27 days, compared to 20 days in the Philippines, 19 days in Singapore and 12 days in Vietnam.
More arguments ensued when Wee again defended the need to develop local expertise.
Gobind argued that domestic capacity building could be done while concurrently allowing foreign vessels to repair underwater cables without any cabotage.
Loke reiterated that Malaysian shipping companies did not possess the type of ships needed to undertake such repairs quickly.
Wee, meanwhile, appeared to hint that such repair work could be offered to foreign ships if domestic vessels were not up to the task.
“We are giving Masa a chance.
“If no Malaysian ships are found to have the expertise within a certain time frame, then we can open (to foreign ships). This is not an issue,” Wee added. - Mkini
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