Both sides back MCA's Wong
PETALING JAYA: Youth wings from across the political spectrum have come out in support of Pahang MCA Youth chief Wong Siew Mun, who is under police investigation over her recent remarks on the government's mobile phone data collection initiative.
The leaders criticised the investigation as an overreach, saying that Wong was merely raising legitimate concerns relating to public interest.
Shared concerns: (From left) Bastien, Hafiz, Faiz and Neow have defended Wong.
Barisan Nasional Youth secretary Hafiz Ariffin expressed shock that Wong was summoned to Bukit Aman, noting that the government has pledged to uphold freedom of speech.
Hafiz said Wong was simply questioning the move to instruct telcos to provide anonymised mobile data to the government.
'This isn't a political issue. It concerns the privacy of Malaysians. As a political activist, she has every right to raise it,' he said.
Barisan Youth communications director Neow Choo Seong echoed that sentiment, urging the Communications Ministry and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to re-evaluate their approach to handling such matters.
He argued that instead of suppressing dissent, authorities should allow open dialogue and be accepting of differing views.
'We must tolerate differing views and prioritise the people's issues. That's the essence of real reform,' said Neow, who is also MCA Youth information chief.
Segamat Umno deputy chief Datuk Bastien Onn said that if Wong is simply voicing grassroots concerns, the authorities should not pursue further action against her.
'It's within the norm of freedom of speech, where it is incumbent on every politician to speak up for the people,' he said.
'The issue is, how will the police handle this without making the other person feel oppressed?'
Bersatu Youth vice-chief Faiz Rahmad also defended Wong, saying her remarks were based on publicly available information, including international news reports and government statements.
Wong had her statement recorded at Bukit Aman on Wednesday.
She is being investigated under Section 505 of the Penal Code and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, for allegedly causing public alarm and misusing network facilities.
Earlier this month, MCMC clarified that the Mobile Phone Data collection initiative only involves eight types of anonymised data from network providers, and does not include personally identifiable details such as names, IC numbers or phone numbers.
Instead, the data types included are the Mobile Station International Subscriber Directory Number, unique ID, mobile country code and GPS coordinates of telco towers, among others.
However, MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong has called for the initiative to be halted, warning that it could erode public trust and lead to abuse.
Dr Wee also questioned the effectiveness of anonymisation, arguing that with advanced technologies, sensitive personal information could still be revealed.
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