KOTA KINABALU – Parti Warisan Sabah (Warisan) has criticised the government for causing families to spend on unnecessary gadgets and for setting up teaching channel DidikTV when schools are going to be reopened soon.
The party’s vice-president Junz Wong said that the federal Education Ministry had been flip-flopping and showed a lack of proper planning.
“What was the whole point of launching DidikTV and urging parents to purchase laptops in the first place when school is going to reopen soon?” he said in a statement today.
“While it is undeniable that laptops, computers and gadgets are useful, the timing of the purchases have greatly affected the financial status of many parents and families.
“If given a choice, many families would prefer buying it (the devices) later when finances are more stable. Isn’t the government aware that many people have lost jobs?
“Between buying a RM2,500 computer and buying food for the family, which would be more important to a family who has no steady income now? Of course, the latter,” he added.
Wong, who is also Tanjung Aru state assemblyman, said parents could have saved thousands of ringgit if the government had conducted proper planning.
“If the government had been deliberating over the reopening of schools, then parents should have been told so. Parents would not need to hastily purchase new gadgets. It is still not too late to purchase laptops when the economy improves and jobs have been secured,” he said.
Wong said that the government appears to be out of touch with the hardship faced by the people.
“Don’t the ministers know that technology improves over time? The same amount of money spent to purchase laptops today can fetch better-specification laptops a few months down the road.
“And since schools are going to reopen, those purchased laptops have changed from being essential to being optional. These laptops are now left idling in one corner of the house while school is reopened,” he said. – The Vibes, February 21, 2021
