It seems whatever we say the 1Malaysia email will be steamrolled ahead, as usual.

As much as don’t want to be mean to say it so directly, the idea of this email system is the dumbest I have ever heard. Was it cooked up by school kids?

Whatever the government says, there is absolutely no basis for contracting a company to set up an email system just so the government can communicate with the end user. Every rakyat who has internet connection has already got an email account, who needs another just to receive government notices?

Furthermore Tricubes has stressed the email should not be used for private correspondence, hence all users WILL need to maintain two email accounts. That is just pure dumb. In all practicality, a user will need to find a way for the 1Malaysia email to be routed to his usual email in order to keep up with any incoming emails. That, in effect, would render the 1Malaysia email redundant and even an annoyance.

For example, when we subscribe to Streamyx, we get a TM email account, but few people who already have Google or Yahoo will use it, as no one wants to manage different email accounts.

So what makes the government think adding another email for us will help?

Next, how is charging the government departments, that is, indirectly charging taxpayers, 50 cents for each email helping the government to save money? It costs zero cents for a government officer, for which we have far too many already, to send out an email.

It would make better sense for the government to build auto systems within the agency to send out bills and notices, something many governments have done. Go and study some top government e-service initiatives, rather than let a bunch of school kids in some overpaid Pemandu lab think up silly ideas.

According to one report, government departments are now paying RM2 to mail out notices. Really? I thought local mail costs 60 cents. Where does the other RM1.40 go?

And why would be need a super secure email to receive government notices? Anyone can open our snail mail now, it’s not super secure either. It doesn’t make much sense.

The real question then is, why is the government planning on using our money to pay a middleman, namely a company that is in financial trouble, when it can do the job itself?

The whole nation smells a rat in this project.