ADDITIONAL INCOME: Once the participants are skilled and qualified, they will enter the digital work platform operated by internationally-renowned crowdsourcing players.
KUALA LUMPUR: The Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC) has introduced eRezeki, a programme to help Malaysians in the low-income bracket earn supplementary income.
The programme has two major components. The first component is the eRezeki online portal where individuals can register as digital workers and perform “simple digital-based tasks” to generate additional income.
The second component is the setting up of eRezeki centres and Wakil eRezeki to provide computers and connectivity to participants.
These eRezeki centres will also have trainers who will help participants to register, teach and facilitate the work of participants. Wakil eRezeki are smaller centres which are not dedicated centres as they run other programmes in addition to eRezeki.
There are currently four centres located in Kuala Lumpur, Kedah, Terengganu and Pahang and one Wakil eRezeki in UiTM.
The plan is to increase the number of eRezeki centres to 11 and Wakil eRezeki to 22 by the end of the year.
The programme was launched by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak with the support of Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek, Minister of Communications and Multimedia, along with the Pahang, Terengganu and Kedah state governments, Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL), Federal Territorial Foundation, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Telekom Malaysia, community organisations and community colleges.
Najib said that programmes like this will help raise the average income of the bottom 40% household income group by finding new ways to earn income.
The eRezeki portal is essentially an online job market for part time jobs that includes data entry, illustrations for children’s books, audio transcription and image defect detection.
The jobs are obtained from international companies that produce simple jobs for outsourcing.
Participants can typically earn up to RM500 per month as additional income by working from one to three hours a day.
To ensure the accuracy of their work, participants will get specific training to simulate the kind of work they are expected to do.
The digital workers will be rated on the portal based on the accuracy of their work and will obtain more complex and higher paying jobs if they get higher ratings.
There are about 30 to 50 computers in each eRezeki centre and typically around 20 computers at the Wakil eRezeki but participants are not necessarily required to go to the centre to work if they have their own equipment and once they get the required training.
According to Datuk Yasmin Mahmood, MDeC chief executive officer, about RM60mil worth of jobs have already been outsourced to eRezeki.
