Yesterday, we wrote about Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman concern’s that some PerantiSiswa recipients were trying to sell their tablets online.
Subsequently, Communications and Multimedia (K-KOMM) minister, Tan Sri Annuar Musa said they were aware about this in a press conference and that they were doing something about it.
Free Malaysia Today reported that there had been 14 reports so far and the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs (KPDNHEP) was keeping an eye on the situation.
Action will be taken against students who sell their PerantiSiswa tablets, including displaying their names at the PerantiSiswa portal and notifying their universities.
K-KOMM, Minister, Tan Sri Annuar Musa.
According to Annuar, the government took the sale of the gadget seriously and deemed it to be an irresponsible move.
Those who sold their tablets could have broken the “akujanji” (promise) they made when they first obtained them.
I hope this (sale) will stop soon … I’m deeply disappointed with the recipients of the tablets who had the nerve to sell the devices openly online … I don’t think it’s appropriate as they are not meant for sale.
K-KOMM, Minister, Tan Sri Annuar Musa.
Meanwhile, without naming the app, Annuar said the PerantiSiswa tablets are fitted with a tracking feature. SoyaCincau reported the minister as saying that the app was pre-loaded onto the device and that it was merely a safety feature.
Annuar had said the use of the tracking feature is up to individuals and no attempt will be made to invade students’ privacy and that the tracking feature is standard on modern devices and neither unusual nor unique to PerantiSiswa.
There are various device finder apps out there including Samsung’s Find My Mobile feature that he was talking about. This feature allows users to remotely lock the tablet and provides location update of the tablet every 15 minutes should it go missing.
Elaborating on the PerantiSiswa ‘resellers’, Annuar said they were thinking of exposing the identities of those who had broken the PerantiSiswa rules on the official site and informing their respective universities.
Annuar stated that K-KOMM was considering the implementation of a buy-back scheme that would allow recipients to sell their tablets to the government if they were no longer needed.
For those who no longer require the tablets, maybe we can introduce a buy-back policy after a year … I will look into it, it is better than having them sell the tablets at a lower price.
K-KOMM, Minister, Tan Sri Annuar Musa.
