KUCHING: China is developing very fast and today, it is much more advanced than most other countries, especially in the areas of science and technology.
What makes China what it is today? The Chinese government and the private sector have made huge investments in research and development (R&D), technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotics and big data.
These have contributed to China’s economy, making it the fastest-growing in the world and is now the second largest economy in the world after the United States of America (USA).
Four years ago, the Chinese government announced a 10-year plan called the Made in China 2025 (MIC 2025) to increase the development of high-tech industries.
With the plan, China aims to become top in the world in robotics, telecommunication and energy saving vehicles.
Now, where does Sarawak stand? The state is already catching up very fast, thanks to the vision of the Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg to transform the state’s economy to digital economy.
In addition, the Sarawak government has decided to leapfrog into the Fourth Industrial Revolution (IR 4.0) in order to be relevant in this digital age.
Another important reason why the state government is collaborating with Huawei, China tech giant, is to develop 5G technology in Sarawak.
“Huawei has the hardware for 5G. And we want to upgrade the Internet connectivity towards 5G under the 12th Malaysia Plan (12 MP) from 2021 to 2025,” said Abang Johari.
While China has its MIC 2025, the Sarawak government has its five-year Sarawak Digital Economy Strategy 2018 to 2022. And the strategy covers eight sectors — Agriculture, Tourism, Smart City, Digital Health, e-Commerce, Digital Government, Social Sectors and Manufacturing.
Under the state’s digital economy strategy, many projects and initiatives have already been implemented.
One of the successful initiatives is the establishment of the mobile app — Sarawak Pay, also known as S Pay, that provides a convenient and secured e-wallet for users to make digital payments on bills and many others.
e-wallet has made it much easier for Sarawakians to settle their bills. To date, the e-wallet is used by 150,000 consumers as well as 10,000 merchants. It has also facilitated over RM110 million sales and purchase transactions.
In China, Hangzhou in Zhejiang Province is the first Chinese city to go cashless in 2016.
Its residents use the mobile payment app called Alipay which was launched in 2004 by China’s biggest online commerce company Alibaba.
According to a Hangzhou resident, she was proud that the city was the first to achieve the status of a smart city status and a cashless society.
“Before this, we had to carry cash everywhere. Alipay has made our life much easier.
“We use Alipay for everything. To buy clothes, insurance, train tickets, rent cars, book hotels, pay credit cards, arrange doctors’ appointments. Alipay even offers higher interest rates than banks,” she said.
She said the people in Hangzhou supported the move of the local government to switch to the cashless system.
“This (cashless society) is the new way of economy. It is also in line with the digital era we are in today,” she said.
China has successfully tapped into digital technology and Artificial Intelligence (AI). In Sarawak, the people must accept the state’s government’s journey towards digital economy.
“Sarawak cannot afford to be left behind in adopting digital technology that could benefit the people in the long run,” said Abang Johari.
World-renowned futurist and theoretical physicist from US Dr Michio Kaku has praised the state government for being a kind government that wanted to lead its people into the future.
“It is so rare to find a government and ministers that yearn to lead in the digital economy,” said Michio who was in Kuching during the third International Digital Economy Conference Sarawak (IDECS) 2019.
People cannot deny how important technology is in today’s world, especially in telecommunication, medical and building a safe and smart city.
What does a smart city mean? Smart city is where high-technology and Internet of Things (IoT) are used to collect data which is used to improve the quality of services and citizens’ welfare.
Jiangsu Province in China ranks top for its public security. One important contributing factor is its good public security management.
The province has invested and used the latest and high-technology security equipment to assist the authorities in monitoring the safety of its citizens.
In addition, it even has an Immediate Police Calling Centre where public can alert the police right away when they are in danger in a public area.
Jiangsu Province has a population of over 80 million but only one murder case was reported in the province last year.
Nanjing City, which has a population of 8 million, also has few crime cases.
As for Sarawak, the state government also has its own plan to make its cities and towns smart.
As earlier announced by Abang Johari, Miri City is currently being developed into a smart city.
“We will be using Miri as a model to develop Kuching as a smart city,” said the chief minister.
One good example of using technology to transform Miri into a smart city is by implementing a smart rubbish collection system.
The chief minister added the state government already had a master plan for the development of Kuching as a smart city.
When all the infrastructure facilities in place, Sarawak will certainly be a high income and developed state by the year 2030.
Of course, it will take time for Sarawak to realise its dreams of smart cities and towns in the state.
The Sarawak government has already laid out all these development plans from transforming its economy, developing smart cities, smart agriculture and most importantly, to bridge the gap between the rural and urban areas.
Now, it is important
for the people to realise that digital technology and AI is the way forward.
If
Sarawak doesn’t start somewhere, we will be left behind. China is a good
example to emulate. If China can do it, why can’t Sarawak?
