An announcement by the Minister of Housing and Local Government Nga Kor Ming didn’t sit too well with Malaysians online recently, with many seeing it as a waste of national resources
The announcement pertains to the appointment of 200 ‘online ambassadors’ to combat fake news in the digital space.
KPKT appointing 200 ‘online ambassadors’ to combat fake news and slander
KPKT Minister, Nga Kor Ming
As reported by BERNAMA, the 200 online ambassadors would be staff within the Ministry of Housing and Local Government (KPKT) and will use creativity to convey authentic information by using short videos, livestreams and other mediums to ‘protect’ the rakyat from slander and fake news.
However, many saw the move negatively, claiming that the appointments were nothing more than the ministry’s attempt to ‘rebrand’ cybertroopers.
Quote sharing a local news publication’s story on KPKT’s move, X user @Fahmibinhassan sarcastically said that during his time, this job was called cybertrooper.
Cyber Madani?
The X post resonated with other Malaysians on the platform, with many also criticising KPKT for the ‘online ambassadors’ appointment.
One commenter said that the current government is rebranding everything that previous administrations have already introduced. These include BR1M, wage subsidies, JKOM and others.
Meanwhile, another commenter went a step further and called the appointments ‘cyber Madani’, a combination of cybertrooper and Madani, the policy framework introduced by the current government.
Besides that, another commenter questioned how much the new ‘online ambassadors’ would cost the government and why are they pretty much overlapping with JKOM’s functions.
Moreover, 1 netizen found the ‘online ambassadors’ concept hilarious and sarcastically asked whether these appointments are 1 of the ‘leakages’ that the government is trying to stop.
So, what do you guys think of the whole situation? Share your thoughts with us in the comments!
Also read: Nga Kor Ming Called Out for Praising & Claiming Clean KLIA Premium Plaza Toilet as ‘Public’ Toilet
