PORT DICKSON, Aug 30 (Bernama) -- The Malaysia ICT Volunteer (MIV) with the community programme can provide added value to the public, particularly the elderly, to obtain information on cybersecurity and, thus, protect them from the threat of scammers.
A programme participant, 76-year-old Romiyah Rasidi said the knowledge and information obtained as an MIV could also be used to educate other senior citizens, who easily trust others without checking and are often exposed to scammers.
"As the chairman of several associations, including the Rasah Parliamentary Constituency Single Mother Association, I need to have more knowledge to share with my members and then they too can disseminate it to their family members and friends.
"So, I feel that this programme is very helpful, especially for the elderly. Age is not a barrier. If we do not attend such activities, where else are we going to go to get such knowledge. After all, it's free. To me, it's like a 'gift’ to all participants,” she told Bernama during the Negeri Sembilan-level MIV with the Community programme recently.
The programme, organised by the Negeri Sembilan branch of the Malaysia Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) in collaboration with the state Information Department and state Women's Development Office, was attended by 45 volunteers aged between 20 and 76, including staff from the National Information Dissemination Centre (NADI) and the Women Development Community Office.
The two-day programme involved various activities, including the introduction, initiative and direction of the MIV, using smartphones skillfully for photography and videography as well as group activities and basic entrepreneurial training.
Another participant, 32-year-old N. Logendran said the volunteer programme would help educate more people to develop ICT applications and services that are beneficial, especially to entrepreneurs conducting online trading.
"Although this is just a two-day programme, the information given is very compact. I will pass it on to the people in my village at Kampung Sri Paya. This programme's module teaches us techniques to take better photographs to promote goods, editing, online payment and so on.
"Most of us are traders but we do not expand our businesses online. So, with such a programme, I can guide them to develop their own websites,” he said after attending the programme for the first time.
Forty-three-year-old Safiah Adam concurred, describing the MIV as an interactive platform with the local community to guide them to use ICT more positively.
"When I initially joined the MIV, I did not get the community's support because they did not realise the wrong usage of the Internet could be detrimental but I never gave up and continued to visit schools and Orang Asli villages to provide them with exposure (to ICT),” he said.
Safiah, also a staff at the Sungai Lui NADI in Jempol, said they also used NADI as their reference material when they wanted to verify any news received.
Through the MIV programme, participants are exposed to training, guidance and direction to implement volunteer activities for three months through workshop modules that are provided, thus, enabling the volunteer programme to be carried out effectively.
The participants are given certificates of recognition as volunteers upon completion of the programme.
-- BERNAMA
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