AUGUST 17 — When Bank Negara Malaysia reported that Malaysia suffered a 17.1 per cent decline in GDP for Q2 2020, we took solace in the Governor’s optimism that “the worst is behind us and the recovery is forthcoming”. The message was loud and clear: recovery is the only path to choose, moving forward.

Covid-19 has effectively wiped out the gains we made economically while recovery remains gradual. Luckily the Government has been quick and steadfast in its intervention through a combination of monetary, fiscal and financial measures. Already, businesses and households are struggling to sustain their livelihood during this trying time. What awaits is a journey of socio-economic recovery set against the challenges of pace of mutation and volume of global infection, made more challenging thanks to the restrictive cross-border movement of people and goods. Our recovery pace cannot even match Covid’s ability to mutate into more virulent strain such as D614G.

Yet one of the silver linings that has cushioned us against a more disastrous impact is the rise of digital lifestyle. Malaysian businesses and households were quick to adjust behaviours and adapt to the new normal by going digital from the simplest task of ordering food to the most complex task of forecasting the revenue in oil in time of no consumption. The existing risk of face-to-face interaction compelled the public sector to embrace working-from-home massively. Our diplomats continue negotiating at the UN, Asean, Apec and other multilateral fora despite the physical distance. Andrea Bocelli sang his heart out in a moving solo concert watched by approximately 40 million viewers online. His music lives on albeit no human audience in presence.

The digital connectedness and physical desertion that these scenarios present highlighted the nature of what our world has become with majority of countries still under lockdown, including the model country New Zealand.

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With staying indoor becoming our raison d’etre, we went online for classes, meetings, and solemnisation. Korean dramas such as Crash Landing on You and It’s Okay Not to Be Okay enjoyed a surge in demand thanks to Netflix, signalling a massive shift in consumption pattern. Internet increases the chance for rural Malaysians to navigate places digitally through more so than waiting for national borders to open and resume flying. Now, not everyone can fly even when prices of tickets and accommodation have been reduced.

It goes without saying that digital lifestyle can only happen when there is a reliable internet connection for people to subscribe and start exploring life beyond Malaysia. Our service providers be it TM/Unifi, Maxis, U Mobile, Celcom, Digi and YES must offer superior wi-fi and internet packages that will facilitate and support our journey into the realm of digital life, more so with the advent of 5G and the arrival of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

In my humble opinion as a paying consumer, our service still has massive rooms for improvement. Malaysians should demand greater quality from the service providers with the same tenacity when asking those who committed wrongdoings to face the music. Integrity, accountability and quality service are not exclusive traits expected of those holding public offices, but also the corporate and business executives.

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Though we aspire to be a developed nation by 2020, internet as an infrastructure in Malaysia remains a challenging feat. MCMC published the Network Performance Report 2019 to measure the wireless broadband access service nationwide from January to November. The network performance parameters stated in the mandatory standards require each service provider to provide at least 1Mbps of download throughput for at least 80 per cent of the time; not more than 250 ms packet round-trip time (RTT) for at least 70 per cent of the time and packet loss of not more than 3 per cent.

The average download throughput indicates how well the network is able to cope with the demands of data centric users. The higher the average download throughput means consumers would be able to enjoy faster internet speeds for their favourite applications on a mobile device. The performance on latency and packet loss gives an overview on the network capability to transfer data between one ends to another. Quick response time is essential for activities that require minimal delay such as video calls and online gaming, and the reliability of the network to deliver packets to its intended destination will ensure a seamless user eperience. Once again, Maxis has maintained its leading position as the best wireless broadband service provider.

What does this means to us?

First, keeping the internet up and running seamlessly is essential in our journey to recovery. Network operators and service providers must update their infrastucture, utilize pre-existing capacity and expand new capabilitities to ensure high quality service to the paying customers. Use more fibre in the networks and gradually retire outdated technologies. Post-Covid life is one where the demand for digitalisation will be a premium to overcome this Great Depression of our time.

Secondly, digital divide will magnify the existing struggle against inequality. Try putting ourselves in the shoes of Malaysians who cannot afford to pay for food because they have no money, what’s more to subscribe internet for online learning. If left without a purposeful and targeted intervention, it means more Malaysians will be left behind from exploiting internet to expand their knowledge and skils for the future. The society will remain divided along the tangents of have and have-not, resulting in more desperation and societal disharmony. Therefore, service providers must be generative in ensuring internet penetration along with its infrastructure in all parts and corners of Malaysia beyond major cities.

Lastly, we must celebrate our valiant acts of adaption in search for normalcy, no matter how small though there is no denying that Covid-19 has changed us tremendously. The virus has been unkind to those who became jobless, threatening to those infected and yet trailblazing in its subtle reminder that life is resilient and bounces back beautifully in the least expected ways. We must not lose sight of the beauty even when our current view is marred by difficulties, uncertainties and worries. Distance makes us crave for presence because its livelier to chat in person than having to type at length on Whatsapp. We miss chanting “aney roti banjir satu” though Grab food is more convenient. And yes, we can get married virtually but what’s the point when it was his or her smile (and not his or her smileys) that makes our hearts fluster to a point of smiling endlessly out of sheer happiness.

Standing between us and recovery is a common enemy who is not the men and women having dissenting views nor the critics who hurled criticisms against us, but the formidable Covid-19 who infected Tom Hanks the same way it attacked our clusters. In Petronas’ 46th birthday message, the President/CEO called on his team to continue moving forward with tenacity and courage. Malaysia too should embark on our road to recovery bravely, shed any remnants of complacency and change our doing-in-the-world.

Till then, here’s to praying may our journey to recovery be blessed with passion, discipline and commitment to gain what we have lost.

* Nur Ayuni Zainal Abidin reads the Malay Mail.

** This is the personal opinion of the writer and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.