CORONAVIRUS | Penang has consistently recorded the second lowest Covid-19 cases per capita in the country, and it has a recovery rate of more than 80 percent, nearly twice that of the national figure.
Having said this, Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow (above) added, the state and country do not only need to survive, but also must aim to thrive.
Chow said citizens must be empowered to continue pursuing their aspirations in spite of the new challenges faced.
"We acted early before the movement control order was imposed on March 18.
"And now, before the MCO ends, we want to take early actions as well to ensure that Penang is ready when we reopen," Chow said during a virtual round table dubbed “Hack the Next Normal”.
The event had over 200 participants, consisting of engineers, coders, system analysts, designers, technologists and even geeks in general.
They convened over the Internet to discuss how technological solutions can help Penang deal with the next normal.
Chow said Penang has been a technological hub in Malaysia for years.
"Whether SMEs or new start-ups, particularly through the Penang Science Cluster, we have aimed to provide a conducive ecosystem for people to learn technology, think about technology, develop technology and definitely utilise technology," he said.
"I am proud to say that young engineers affiliated with the Penang Science Clusters, re-engineered the face shield together with doctors in the frontline and successfully produced a better and cheaper version of it," he added.
Chow said his team was the first to employ Facebook Live to replace their press conferences.
This allowed Chow to broadcast his regular messages to the public in a cost effective manner, and allowing journalists to cover his events without having to be physically present.
"We take social distancing very seriously here."
Meanwhile, Chow said both city councils in Penang utilised easily available technologies such as Whatsapp and Google Form to solicit data from hawkers to enable them to receive the cash transfer aid from the state government.
He noted the city councils also launched campaigns encouraging hawkers and petty traders to participate in e-commerce.
"Of course, this project is still in its infancy, but I was told that some of the hawkers who signed up actually recorded increased sales during this MCO period," he claimed.
Chow said the Penang Lawan Covid-19 communication campaign utilises traditional and new media to reach out.
Penang is reportedly one of the few states with a dedicated website, Facebook page and Telegram channel for localised Covid-19 related messages.
"All these are just the tip of the iceberg.
"The Chinese word for crisis is a combination of the characters representing 'danger' and 'opportunity'.
"The crisis has provided us with an excellent opportunity to rethink how we do things," Chow said.
"We are, of course, fortunate to live in a time when technology is readily available for us to cope with all these new challenges," he added. - Mkini
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