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Do you remember the chaos of getting all prepaid number users to register their numbers before a certain period last year? Despite all the warnings of “Your account will be terminated if you do not register your number before the dateline”, the “dateline” was further extended after the initial dateline reached! Not to forget the gifts and goodies that people get for registering late.

Welcome to Malaysia.

Back then I was still studying in UKM. I remember registering my prepaid number early at one of the Maxis authorized dealer in Metro Kajang. It was a piece of cake. The guy behind the counter passed me a form and I just filled it up and signed. I don’t remember if he asked for my I.C. (I think he did). He took the form and just put it aside. I did have doubts if there would be problems but assured myself otherwise. Hey, they are Maxis authorized dealers!

Few months later when I was back at home, I went into my local Maxis office to confirm if my number has been registered. “Your number has not been registered, sir”, the officer told me. I immediately gave him the “WTF!?” stare. I told him that I had already filled up a form few months back in Kajang but he confirmed that my number is not registered yet. So what happened to the form that I filled up in Kajang few months back? If I didn’t bothered to confirm my registration status and my number ended up suspended, whose fault is it? More importantly, was my personal information misused?

I immediately asked him to check if there were any phone numbers registered under my name. He replied, “Sorry sir. That is something we cannot do”. Again, the “WTF!?” stare. They are not providing that information for privacy reasons or their system is not capable of doing so? I don’t believe the former can be used as a reason since I was asking for numbers registered under my name, not a third party. If the reason is because of the latter, I would like to have a word with the software designer behind the system.

The purpose of registering all prepaid numbers was to put a stop on Ah Long activities and for the interest of national security. According to the article War on Ah Long in The Star yesterday, Deputy Minister Datuk Fu Ah Kiow said that tracing loan sharks will not be easy because “there is a loophole in tracing them whereby the numbers could have been registered under a different name or even a ‘phantom’ owner”.

So seriously, what is the purpose of getting the whole nation to register their prepaid numbers in an attempt to halt loan sharks’ activities, when their “master plan” is flawed? Aren’t we all back at square one now? Correct me if I’m wrong but I think the whole prepaid registration circus is a big joke. I can imagine the loan sharks laughing their butts off watching all of us monkeys (yes, me included) in the process.

Quoting from The Star:

He (Deputy Minister Datuk Fu Ah Kiow) urged the public to report the cellphone numbers listed in the stickers or bills in order for the police to trace them and ascertain whether or not they were bona fide moneylenders …

However, the MCMC replied that it could not act without an official report.

However, he (Commercial crime director Datuk Ramli Yusof) said that even with the phone numbers and with the public lodging reports, the police could not “just rush into action.”

“We have to investigate first and it could take time,” he told reporter RASHITAH HAMID.

He urged the public to come forward to make reports, adding that there had not been many such reports so far.

I have never understood the reason why some government agencies have to wait for official reports or complaints before they start investigating. Maybe it is their “procedure”? But aren’t they (MCMC, police, etc.) citizens of Malaysia as well? So, why can’t they make a report themselves? I am sure the MCMC and police officers have eyes to see. Just like normal citizens who can see layers after layers of “Ah Long stickers” all around the country, I am positive every single one of them can see them as well. So why are they still pointing their fingers at the citizens (as if to blame) for not making reports?

So, who is the winner in this “Malaysian Government Vs. Ah Long” brawl? It is damn blardy obvious, isn’t it?

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 22nd, 2007 at 4:45 am and is filed under Malaysia oh Malaysia. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.