MCA seeks withdrawal of Computing Bill

MCA has sent a memorandum of protest to the Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry (Mosti), calling for the proposed Computing Professionals Bill 2011 to be withdrawn.

“We cannot support this, and therefore seek the withdrawal of the proposed legislation,” said the Chinese-based party's Young Professionals Bureau chief Chua Tee Yong (left).


Speaking to reporters at Mosti's Open Day in Putrajaya after handing the memorandum to the panel that drafted the Bill, Chua, who is also Labis MP, outlined concerns he said plagued the “ill-conceived” document.

Chua's concerns include punitive clauses in the proposed Bill to punish computer professionals who practise without registering with the Board of Computing Professionals Malaysia.

Another is that the certification required for computer practitioners may cause more unemployment, instead of solving jobless IT professionals' problems as claimed by proponents of the Bill.

Additional financial burden and bureaucractic headaches for computer professionals are other concerns of the bureau, he said.


These concerns, said Chua, arose from consultations and comments his bureau received from companies and IT professionals who have highlighted their concerns about the Bill to his bureau.


The Labis MP said that if the ministry wanted to proceed with the Bill, which he believes has a valid purpose, “it must overhaul the present draft".

It should also go back to stakeholders, such as programmers and other IT professionals, and come up with a consultative Bill that will address all issues that have been left unaddressed and "take into account all sides of the equation”.

However, he clarified that as of now MCA's stand against the Bill was at the bureau stage, as it had yet to be endorsed by the presidential council.


Chua hoped that Mosti would also take into account the views of the IT grassroots that had been expressed through the memorandum, as well as those who spoke out at today's open day.

(Source: Malaysia Kini)