K-Economy Master Plan the joke of the IT world – trundled on a bullock-cart, later than others, longest to complete and up till now still  a mystery to MPs and Malaysians

(Petaling Jaya, Monday): In his 2003 budget speech last Friday, the Prime Minister and Finance Minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamad  seemed rather shy and ashamed of the  K-economy Master Plan when he made short shrift of it by devoting  one mere line  to it, when he said:  

“The Government has recently launched the Knowledge-Based Economy Master Plan based on knowledge, creativity and innovation to generate stronger economic growth without overly depending on capital and labour.”

There are reasons enough for Mahathir  to be rather shy about the K-economy Master Plan and not to trumpet it in the usual fashion, such as:  

• Despite being one of the earliest countries to publicly proclaim the aspiration to be an IT power, with the Multimedia Super Corridor announced as far back as 1996 to be “a gift to the world”, Malaysia is probably the last such country to formulate a K-economy Master Plan as other IT-sensitive nations had long completed their K-economy Master Plans, with many  at the advanced stage of implementation.  
• Taking some three to four  years or the longest for any country to complete a K-economy Master Plan when other countries took six to eight months for the process.
• Formulating the K-economy Master Plan in total secrecy when other countries fully involve public participation and consultation in every stage of the preparation. 
• Classifying the K-economy Master Plan as a secret document under the
  Official Secrets Act until its launch on 9^th September this year, totally against the culture and mindset of an information society where information are increasingly accessible and democratic and where citizens are fully engaged in the government decision-making process.  

In fact, the K-Economy Master Plan had been formulated in violation of the public pledge by Mahathir that it would be the product of a “18-month process of national consultation, brainstorming, drafting and national mobilisation" rather than a secretive, “elitist” process.  

On  March 8, 2000,  at the Second Global Knowledge Conference, Mahathir  announced that the  K-economy Master Plan would be  the "Strategic Initiative One" to reinvent Malaysian society to grasp the opportunities of the Information Age. 

He said that the K-Economy Master Plan would be "for the entire nation and for every citizen"  and would not be drafted by the best brains behind closed doors because it must be relevant to Malaysians and become a personal master plan for all.

He said "the whole process of national consultation, brainstorming, drafting and national mobilisation should be completed within 18 months from this day" and that the formulation of the K-economy Master Plan would  "not be an elitist process but one involving everyone from the teacher to his  pupil, to his fisherman father, to the mechanic, to the secretary, janitor and the chairman of the board."

Nothing of what Mahathir pledged publicly about the formulation of the K-Economy Master Plan happened and this is why the K-Economy Master Plan has become the joke of the IT world – trundled on a bullock-cart, later than others, longest to complete and up till now still  a mystery to MPs and Malaysians.

          
After its official launch by the Deputy Finance Minister, Datuk Dr. Shafie Miohd Salleh on 9^th September, my  office tried to get a copy but was told that the K-Economy Master Plan are available only at the end of the month.  Two weeks after Parliament had convened, MPs still  do not have any  copy of the K-Economy Master Plan when it should the centerpiece of the parliamentary debate on the  2003 Budget which starts today.  

If the K-economy Master Plan, which should  be the most important of all government Master Plans as it holds the key to Malaysia’s future prosperity in the face of the challenges of globalisation and information and communications technology, is treated in such a shabby and contemptuous fashion, it does not speak well about the commitment and necessary mindset of the policy-makers and planners for a knowledge-based economy and society  for Malaysia.  

It is not too late for the government to immediately table the K-Economy Master Plan so that every MP would be armed with a copy and be sufficiently equipped to be able to debate intelligently  the K-Economy Master Plan in the budget debate and the country’s future as a K-economy and society.

(23/9/2002)