ISOC-MALAYSIA

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9/18/2002 3:50:21 PM

A couple of weeks ago, one curious individual wrote me an email asking me about the short history of ISOC-Malaysia and its direction in the future. I was busy then and did not reply. I got a second email from him 2 weeks later. I finally replied and as I feel many of you out there may be interested in the same topic, let me put my answer here. ISOC-Malaysia started some time in 98 so that makes us about nearly 4 years old. In the early days, we concentrated on bringing the Internet to as many people as we can. This means, asking companies to donate computers (old) and refurbished them for later transfer of ownership. There were those who try to take advantage of us by donating junk and ask for a tax write off. In short, promised near new but actually donated junk. Sad right. In fact, I find individuals more charitable, many took their own time to actually delivered the PCs to us. There are those who provided free training using donated premises and facilities. A few names worth mentioning are Dr Nah, Tommi, Guan Seng, Peggy, Microsoft Foundation, LIONS Club of KL Host who help in various ways personally and professionally. We also got encouraging letters from certain Government Depts to expand our scope further. But frankly we were stretched. And things got really slow latter when I was away from KL. So I am partly to be blamed here. As for the future, I believe what is most useful is for individuals to group together at their own initiative to carry out the necessary work. Someone actually ask me what is ISOC-Malaysia and what do we do. To put it bluntly, consider other organization such as Red Cross or Boy Scouts etc. They provide certain type of survival training for their members on a voluntary basis. It is the same with ISOC. What survival skills you ask ? Well, to survive in the age of the Internet you need to have some skills which may be self-taught or learn within a group of peers.

10/24/2002 10:55:48 AM

The range of skills here are too many but basically they cover all aspects of our interaction with the society at large. For example, privacy issues, legal issues, security issues, adult content and economics. At the core of all these lay the skills to understand the impact of technology on our daily lives like spamming actually cost workers about 10 mins a day. To be sure not all of us are skilled in any of these areas per say, therefore it is necessary for us to pull our resources together so to educate ourselves. That is the main agenda and why ISOC as a society is important. Laws in one country such as the US may have implication here because our economies are connected. Granted that not all of us are that intellectually stimulated by such academic exercise. For those who are not, there are other avenues such as empowering others with computing skills. I got an email from a grandma the other day wishing to learn about computers and have friends who are in the same boat. She asked me if I can help. There are schools that need connection and want help in networking their PCs together. This may be an opportunity for some who wish to learn some networking techniques under someone who is skilled here and wish to volunteer their Saturday afternoon. The key word here is volunteerism, not money or photo taking. I respect those who want to get ahead in life and career but not those who get ahead by claiming others efforts. So in short, it is always a team effort to get things done. From the correspondence I have with ISOC, let me say that you can always form your own ISOC team in your area rather than waiting for others to do so. There is no restriction to the number of chapters under a specific country. For example, you can have ISOC-KL to do work in KL or ISOC-PJ, ISOC-Penang etc. During our formative stages we debated on the need for a national society which we eventually formed under Malaysia Internet Society registered under the Malaysia’s Law. However I believe this may not be a necessary thing anymore and will add more layers to the administrative structure. Traditionally, while we have societies such as computing and engineering, they are very much focussed on technicalities which makes non technical people as mere spectators. ISOC stands out because we need not only technical people but non technical as well. So having said so , I hope that you will want to join the society at large and take the initiative to form your own group in your own area to undertake ISOC work. Its not that difficult but it is demanding as well as rewarding personally. If you have to ask the question why work for free then I can tell you that this is not your cup of tea. Try being a politician instead. ISOC is neither a religion nor a political arm, we are just normal people wanting to learn Internet survival skills and share our experience with others. Anyone who can dutifully contribute are welcome. There is no ladder to climb as in scouts, just basic respect for each other. Respect is earned not by being better than others but by winning the trust of others. That is the essence of the ISOC spirit after all the internet offer us infinite opportunities to get connected with others to make this world a better place for all. Thanks for reading and have a nice day. CK

10/24/2002 10:56:05 AM

Someone asked me about collecting fees. No you may not unless you are registered under the ROS. There is no membership fees for ISOC members in Malaysia.

11/4/2002 9:33:17 AM

wow, it looks like I haven''t update anything for a long time. Someone ask me the other day where are the volunteer work is being held. Well, its everywhere that you can find interested parties. Ok, that does not help. I am now based in Sandakan, far away from the centre of activity in KL. But if anyone wish to drop by to help us, we need people to give some talks on IT in general and specifically in their fields. It can be a friendly get-together type of meeting with the locals. We do have a lab here sponsored by State IT service that we can use if you are thinking of handson type of activities. You can come to sandakan and have your tour of the monkeys,the nature etc and can drop by to meet our friendly locals. But let me know in advance.

7/30/2003 1:43:28 AM

ok to find other emembers who are interested just drop a message in the forum. Tell us what you want to do and see if there are other interested parties. I was in Romania and this guy started a party to raise funds for ISOC activities in his city. So not a bad place to start. In short, if you do not have the funds, you need to be creative to find it and use this funds for the actvities. The journey of life is to live it.

7/30/2003 1:47:07 AM

Sinec I am in the mood to drop some hints here, one may ask what about those governement labs that are falling apart after the government spend more than RM 500 million (US 130 m) building them. Well, for a start you can drop in the schools and volunteer your service in doing the networking and so on. Its not that hard really and if you are unsure, you can always ask a friend who knows networking. If you do not have the equipment, you can always ask for some companies to donate. Of course if you are a builder then helping to repair those shitty labs is a start.

7/30/2003 1:49:54 AM