MADANI Adopted Village Initiative Effects Positive Change, Improves Lives - Fahmi

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 11 (Bernama) -- The MADANI Kampung Angkat village adoption initiative can bring about positive change and improve the quality of life for rural residents through strategic collaboration from various parties while also ensuring balanced development between urban and rural areas, said Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil.

He said an initial survey at Kampung Orang Asli Kelinsing, Sepang, the ministry’s adopted village, found that the village lacks a hall for residents to carry out programmes and activities.

“Considering the current situation in the village and the objectives of this programme, the Communications Ministry has outlined five project scopes, which include demolishing and rebuilding the cultural hall, canteen, public restrooms, building new trading space and upgrading infrastructure as well as implementing village beautification initiative,” he said in his speech at today’s launch of the Communications Ministry’s Kampung Angkat MADANI at the village.

He said the ministry’s agency, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), has agreed to build a National Information Dissemination Centre (NADI). 

He expressed hope that the centre would be a catalyst for economic activities and enhance digital literacy among Kampung Orang Asli Kelinsing villagers and the surrounding community.

NADI plays a role in enhancing the community’s potential and wellbeing through holistic and sustainable programmes to bridge the digital, knowledge, and socio-economic gaps. It achieves this by introducing five core smart services, namely entrepreneurship, lifelong learning, wellbeing, awareness, and dissemination of accurate and up-to-date information on the latest government initiatives.

Meanwhile, Fahmi said enforcement efforts must match modern-day crime activities to ensure a safer and more sustainable online ecosystem for users, adding that more than 454 cases involving the use of deepfake techniques occurred last year, resulting in losses totalling RM2.72 million in Malaysia.

“Scammers mimicked the voices of victims’ friends purportedly facing a problem, which led to transactions into mule accounts,” he said.

On the licensing of social media platforms, which came into effect on Jan 1, Fahmi said it would not affect individuals using the existing platforms for business, education, and other purposes.

Also present during the launch were Communications Ministry secretary-general Datuk Mohamad Fauzi Md Isa, the Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama) chief executive officer Datin Paduka Nur-ul Afida Kamaludin, Bernama deputy editor-in-chief (News Service) Nasriah Darus, and Bernama Management Services and Finance head Sharifah Zaini Syed Zain.

-- BERNAMA