Malaysia Prime Minister Pak Lah admitted his biggest mistake.....

26-03-2008: Pak Lah says ignoring Internet is his biggest mistake 

KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said his “biggest mistake” in the recent general election was to ignore the political campaigns waged by the opposition on the Internet.

“We certainly lost the Internet war, the cyber war. It was a serious misjudgement. We made the biggest mistake in thinking that it was not important.

“We thought that the newspapers, the print media, the television were supposed to be important, but the young people were looking at SMS (short messaging service) and blogs,” he said at the Invest Malaysia 2008 Conference here yesterday.

Following the dismal election results for Barisan Nasional (BN), Abdullah said the government would “respond effectively”. “It was painful... but it came at the right time, not too late.”

In his keynote address, Abdullah also said the message from the general election was that he did not move fast enough in pushing forward the reforms he had promised to undertake.

“I thank the Malaysian people for this message. Point well made and point taken,” he said.

However, he also pointed out that the BN government was not constrained by dogmatism or rigidity and it was more than ready to listen to the people.

“Above all, it is a government that is ready to change and address the people’s concerns and grievances,” he said, adding that the government was now already in the rejuvenation process with the appointment of a new Cabinet last week.

Abdullah also said he intended to implement a “bold agenda” for addressing the concerns of the people as expressed through the ballot box.

Besides introducing a package to alleviate the burdens of the lower income group, he will drastically reduce crime, step up the fight against corruption, support reforms of the judiciary and ensure a fair number of places of worship for Malaysians of all religions.

“These are the major issues that resonated with the voters, regardless of ethnicity, background, gender or age,” he said.

Dont make his mistake. Get involve. Get more productive. Monetize your efforts through IT by clicking here to learn more.