On a digital journey through Malaysia

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

I GOT to experience Malaysia’s e-governance initiative and digitised government services even before I landed at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA): Visitors have to file an online Malaysia Digital Arrival Card (MDAC), which I did from the comfort of my home in India. On arriving at KLIA with the pre-filled MDAC, it took me precisely two minutes to breeze through immigration with a “travel pass”!

On the road, however, I was amused to see my taxi driver use a fly swatter with an attached Touch ’N’ Go card to reach out of the window to pay a toll. Though India’s Internet penetration is a mere 52% with a fixed broadband speed of 94.62Mbps for download compared with a 97.4% penetration in Malaysia and download speeds averaging 100.57Mbps (as of January 2024), Indian FASTag users pass through toll booths without stopping, displaying a tag number on their vehicle’s windscreen, leaving it to RFID technology to deduct appropriate toll charges from the FASTag wallet.

The KLIA Express did not disappoint – the tickets were discounted by 10% when purchased online. Even better, entry onto the platform was through QR codes on the ticket used to pass through turnpikes at the station. Further, every KTM ETS (intercity electric train service) journey I took had WiFi access. Impor-tantly, the ticket’s QR code allows entry on to the platform within a 30-minute departure window, ensuring platforms are automatically crowd-free.

Using e-hailing apps made travelling within cities a breeze. No need to negotiate fares, struggle with language barriers, or have the correct change, and a car was available at the drop of a hat.

Paying the driver required cash, however, because I couldn’t use the QR-based Unified Payments Interface as I would in India since my phone wasn’t linked to PayNet, the Malaysian equivalent.

Broadband connectivity and 5G technology considerably improves Internet access to WiFi zones for the public. And staying at city centre hotels did not make me feel disconnected from the rest of the world what with LED TVs with satellite channels, and high speed Internet WiFi access available.

There were some pain points in Malaysia’s digital framework too, when only cashless transactions were allowed, which could put off tourists. The Butterworth to Penang Island ferry looked upgraded and modern but, annoyingly, the ticket office refused to accept cash. Caught off-guard, I persuaded the person behind me to buy my ticket and later paid him the fare in cash. Entry to the ferry boarding wharf was high-tech, requiring scanning a QR code, and the waiting area offered free WiFi, laptop stations and power points.

On another occasion in one of Malaysia’s premier shopping destinations, a food service outlet allowed only e-payments, forcing me to choose another amenable to accepting cash.

Malaysia’s digital economy is definitely on track, and thankfully India’s latest cyberscam, the “Digital Arrest” scam, where criminals impersonate law enforcement officials threatening to put individuals behind bars, has not reached Malaysian shores. Vigilance is crucial because this racket has already defrauded Indians of a massive US$14mil (RM65mil) in the first quarter of 2024.

PRIYAN R. NAIK

Bengaluru, Karnataka

India