I wrote this couple of days ago but didnt publish because I am concerned about the sensitivity. But heck, I think I think too much…

—
I went up to KL yesterday to catch up some friend and found out PIKOM PC Fair start today at KLCC. PIKOM is the Computer Association of Malaysia and they held one of the largest PC Fair (something like COMDEX) in Malaysia yearly. This year, they decided to hold their PC Fair in 25 venue (across multiple states) at the same time!

Anyway, I went over this morning only to be stopped by the guards :P Luckily, made a phone call to a friend in PIKOM and whee, I am in ;-)

The guest of honour is Y.B. Dato’ Sri Dr. Lim Keng Yaik, the Minister for Energy, Water and Communications. Dr. Lim is a seasoned politician and has been the Minister for Primary Industry for the last 20 years. Most people would associate rubber and palm oil with Malaysia and you know whose credit it goes to :-)

This is the first time I hear Dr. Lim speaks and I really enjoyed it! He is an extremely funny and entertaining speaker while at the same time able to bring across his points. Like “When I first took over the Ministry, Malaysia broadband is 0.4%. 2 years now, we are at 4%, 10 fold increase …wah..all can sit back relax play golf huh?”. The room burst into laughter when he added “4% my foot!” Or like how he challenges the reporters to “stop talking about the crooked bridge and talks about THIS! (broadband in Malaysia…or the lack of it)”

Funny aside, it is also quite clear he meant business: That he wants broadband to grow, ICT industy to grow, more investments and definitely more liberalization (“you think i dunno who is the toll keeper?” :-) It is also quite clear he is all for industry self-regulation but if they dont play nice, he wont hesitate to step in.

And the catch phrase for the day: “Come dream with me”Anyway, more photos

Mr. Lee Boon Kok (chairman of PIKOM) and Datuk Dr. Halim Shafie (the new chairman of MCMC)