KUANTAN, Feb 20 — Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah said today that the criticism and mocking of a teacher’s Science lesson in English on educational television channel DidikTV recently is cyberbullying.

He said the people should take into account that the teacher was not a professional actor and may never have undergone training before the recording was made.

"She should not be criticised for doing her job as an educator... I also think that the Ministry of Education (MOE) should not be treated (criticised) like that because this is a new thing and of course there are weaknesses here and there.

"These weaknesses need to be addressed to ensure its content will be improved from time to time,” he told a press conference after handing over donations to the Parent-Teacher Association of schools in Indera Mahkota parliamentary constituency here today.

Saifuddin said the Ministry of Communications and Multimedia (KKMM) was ready to offer assistance to the MOE in the preparation of DidikTV content, as the ministry through the National Film Development Corporation (Finas) had the expertise in filming. 

Saifuddin also reiterated KKMM’s stance that specific anti-cyberbullying legislation should be introduced to address the problem, as the act can cause its victims to face problems such as depression or worse, suicidal.

"We do not know the exact number of cyberbullying victims because they don’t report...either because they don’t know they can or they think there is no action that can be taken if they make a report. We cannot blame them for that.

"We have laws like the Communications and Multimedia Commission Act and the Penal Code, but in relation to cyberbullying, a study by KKMM and Multimedia University (MMU) found that more than 80 per cent of legal practitioners think we need specific law for cyberbullying,” he said.

In this regard, Saifuddin, who is also Indera Mahkota MP, explained that KKMM is preparing a Cabinet paper to get a policy decision and has started the initial draft of the anti-cyberbullying bill so that it can be expedited once Parliament begins its sitting.

In another development, he said the MyDIGITAL and the Malaysia Digital Economy Blueprint launched by Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin yesterday, made Malaysia one of the first countries in the region to develop the 5G ecosystem.

This allows Malaysians to start enjoying 5G technology in stages by the end of this year, which is a year earlier than the original plan under the National Digital Infrastructure Plan (Jendela) announced in August last year. 

Meanwhile, he said a contribution of RM105,000 had been given to schools in the Indera Mahkota and Kuantan parliamentary constituencies to be distributed according to the number of students, and to comply with the standard operating procedures (SOP), only representatives from 47 schools were invited today.

In another development, Saifuddin said he has approved an allocation of RM100,000 to build a power substation for the use of 80 people living in 25 houses in Kampung Kubang Ikan here, after being informed that the village did not have electricity and water supply.

"Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB), which is also here today, said that the power supply installation work is scheduled to take up to four months to complete,” he said, adding that he would also help repair the road entering the village and try to work on the water supply and land status.

He had asked the villagers to set up a committee to expedite the matter.

On the problem of wild monkeys at 10 secondary and primary schools in the constituency, Saifuddin said the Indera Mahkota Parliamentary Office would discuss with the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) to solve it. — Bernama