Digital Divide

I write this post on 27 April 2005.

We talk about Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) to the world,
Yet, there are so many Malaysian still illiterate in using computers,
We talk about our oh so fine infrastructure,
Yet, our broadband penetration is still low,
We talk about increasing broadband limit,
Yet, our Streamyx is full of problem.
Enough say.

On Monday morning, I went to bank to withdraw some money (it's a payday BTW). Then, I saw two guys having problem in using the ATM card.

Me : What happened?
Guy 1 : He want to use the card to withdraw money but cannot.
Me : Is this the first time you use the card?
Guy 2 : Yes
Me : You need to change the pin number.
Guy 1 : I've told you that you need to change the pin number. Could you show it to him? (Aku dah habaq dah yang hang kena tukar nombor tu. Boleh tunjuk sat tak?)
Me : Can.. *I take the card from them and go to the one of the ATM available there*. *Insert card* Now, select the language.
Guy 2 : * Push BM button*
Me : Enter your pin number.
Guy 2 : Which one?
Me : Do you get the letter from bank? The pin number is in the letter.
Guy 2 : This one?
Me : Yup.
Guy 2 : *Want to punch the button suddenly*
Guy 1 : You are too slow. (Hang lambat laa)*punch the pin number*
Me : Now you need to change the pin number.
Guy 2 : I can use any number?
Me : Yup, any number.
Guy 2 : *want to enter a new pin number*
Guy 1 : You are too slow. What the number you want?
Guy 2 : x-x-x-x-x-x. Can?? (x-x-x-x-x-x. Boleh ka?)
Guy 1 : *enter the new pin number*
Me : You need to enter the new number.
Guy 1 : *re-enter the new number*
Me : *shake head in disbelief* Now you can withdraw the money. *explain the menu*
Guy 1 : *push the withdraw button and withdraw RM1000*
Me : *want to punch him hard in the belly*
Guy 2 : Thank you so much.
Me : Your welcome. Please remember your pin number.

Now, could you see it? We talk so much about MSC, broadband, digital age and etc. Meanwhile, there are other Malaysian out there that cannot even use ATM machine. For God sake, the ATM machine is the most easiest to use (beside vending machine of course). So, what can we do for them? If we want to move towards digital age, we need to bring everyone there. If not, forget about MSC, broadband, digital age and etc because at that time, the digital divide will become bigger and deeper.

These are the comments from my loyal readers.
At 11:52 PM, Blogger obiwan said...

Complete the sentence! Please! I NEED CLOSURE!!!

At 9:30 AM, Blogger - mie - said...

hehehe..sorry obi. tak perasan pun tak complete. main copy and paste je from the text file.

At 10:09 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

hahaha... ape la bengap sgt budak tu... selama ni tak penah pakai kad atm ke? kesiannya...

dah masuk u pun tak reti2 lagi.... kalau budak sekolah yg masuk hostel tak reti guna tu, paham2 gak la... ni umur pun dah tua...

lain kali, baca la surat bank tu, baca arahan... ni main buang aje.. kan dah susah... hehhheh...

- aurinh -