Melaka State Election: Campaign Responsibly, Avoid 3R Issues – Teo

KULAI: All political parties, contesting candidates and their respective supporters have been reminded not to produce or distribute any materials touching on 3R issues (Religion, Race and Royalty) throughout the Melaka State Election campaign period.

Deputy Communications Minister Teo Nie Ching said that although verbal exchanges or disagreements may occur during campaigning, all parties are urged to conduct healthy campaigns and avoid sensitive issues.

“I strongly encourage all political parties, candidates and their supporters involved not to put forward any materials touching on 3R issues.

“Let us conduct a healthy campaign. We certainly cannot avoid the possibility of heated exchanges during the campaign, but we should ensure that the election campaign is conducted responsibly and that 3R issues are avoided,” she said.

She said this when met after officiating the Bukit Permai State Constituency Deepavali Contribution Presentation Programme at the Arulmigu Mariamman Temple here today.

The Election Commission (EC) has set November 14 as polling day for the Melaka State Election, while early voting is scheduled for November 10.

On cybersecurity, Teo said the recent system hacking incident in Kluang should serve as a wake-up call to all government agencies and authorities.

According to her, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has so far not received any official application or request for assistance from the Kluang Municipal Council (MPK). However, the agency remains ready to provide technical assistance, advice and expertise if required.

Nevertheless, she warned that cybersecurity issues should not be taken lightly, given society’s extremely high dependence on the Internet and cloud-based systems.

“Do not assume that no hackers will attempt to hack our systems. In reality, the risk exists and is very high,” she said, emphasising the importance of allocating sufficient investment budgets to strengthen cybersecurity and conducting regular security audits.

Earlier, an incident involving several LED display systems around Kluang being hacked by irresponsible parties and used to display pornographic videos went viral on social media.

Following the incident, MPK announced through its Facebook page that further investigations were being carried out in collaboration with the vendors to identify the cause, while recovery measures were being implemented and the security of the respective systems strengthened.

MPK also apologised for any inconvenience and concern caused, stressing that the council takes the matter seriously and strongly condemns the incident.

The council further emphasised that it would not hesitate to take legal action against any party attempting to tarnish the organisation’s image and reputation.

BERNAMA