KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 18  — A Freedom of Information (FOI) Act will not benefit Malaysia until the government and society learn to manage and use currently available information made efficiently and responsibly, a minister argued today.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Paul Low said there is more to the FOI Act than simply allowing public access to the various data sets compiled by the government.

“The FOI Act is the ideal, but when you establish an FOI Act the first thing you have got to know is that the FOI Act is not free. Everything needs a boundary,” he said on the sidelines of a seminar here.

“You need infrastructure. You may need 300 people to deal with so much information. So it’s not just an Act alone, you need information officers... at the moment, it’s not feasible,” he added.

Currently, only the state governments of Selangor and Penang have freedom of information laws, though in both cases, these are limited only to matters that are under the purview of the state administration and come with several caveats.

Low today stressed that even if Putrajaya were to implement a FOI Act now, it would be incapable of effectively implementing the law due to the disparity in access to large tracts of data managed by its various ministries and agencies.

The minister added that society is not yet ready to handle information “responsibly” if they were to be given wide access to the government's data sets.

Taking the example of the Auditor-General's Report ― which is tabled in Parliament three times a year ― Low claimed that society seems to be focussed on simply condemning the government for whatever shortfall that is highlighted.

“When data is given to society, you must use it responsibly, in a way that is constructive. Don't simply condemn.

“I mean, why should I be giving you data if you are just going to smear it in my face? If you want to have all open data, you must be more responsible,” he said.