PETALING JAYA: The recent launch of the website for the Malaysia Energy Literacy Programme – melp.my – has been roundly hailed by energy professionals.
Michael Joseph, consulting engineer in the power generation business, said it is indeed a good step towards educating the community at large through words and diagrams.
“It also shows the objectives and areas for awareness.
“This site also caters to educating various groups – residential, school, offices, etc. This makes it easy for one to navigate through the website.
“The value chain diagram helps give one a quick overview so that they can grasp the necessary information.
“Importantly, the energy efficiency portion is there to educate many laypeople on simple steps within their control to save energy where possible.
“Glad to see the safety aspects are covered, too, so that the community can be cautious while using appliances,” he said, adding that another plus point is the site also allows one to have a better understanding of the new TNB tariff structure, which many are still struggling to figure out.
Joseph is also pleased to see that the buzzword – energy transition – is simplified to layman terms and examples that one can relate to.
“All in all, it’s indeed a good start and we can continue to keep the information relevant, so it’s a portal for one to go to relating to energy literacy,” he added.
Ikhwan Khaleb, a professional in the energy industry that specialises in spent nuclear fuel management, is also bowled over by the website as the layout is really user-friendly.
“In my opinion, we need to focus more on what we can give to the people. I’d assume average Malaysians would want to know what they could benefit from this government-private sector initiative.
“For example, would they get better tariff pricing if Malaysia shifts to a cleaner source of electricity? Maybe add a section of ‘What’s in it for me?’,” said the US-based engineer who has offered to help MELP improve the website further.
On understanding the electricity tariff, he suggests adding an interactive feature such as tariff calculator/explore, where people can key in their monthly kWh usage.
“Additionally, let interactive maps show the location of Malaysia’s power plants,” Ikhwan said, adding that if schoolchildren are among the target, then there could be more kid-friendly pages with cartoons/explainer videos (just like the Upin & Ipin video on the website).
For optimal social media integration, there could be some bite-sized content from the website with short clips to explain interesting bits about energy.
And as Malaysia has expressed its intention to revisit nuclear energy, Ikhwan said the website can also serve as a gateway for news and policy updates so that everyone can stay up to date.
“It’s more than a website – it’s a central reference point designed to counter misinformation and support behavioural change,” he said.
