Communications and Internet Culture
CHEOW Puei Kuen (Malaysia)
Internet connection is started in 1990 and becomes widely used in Malaysia since1995. According to data from Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission(MCMC), Malaysia ranks as number 2 in terms of Internet penetration (per 100inhabitants) among ASEAN countries in 2008, after Singapore. Although the Internetpenetration rate is still not as high as other developed countries like Japan, SouthKorea and The United States of America, the Internet penetration rate in Malaysia isstill considered acceptable compared to the world penetration rate of 22.04% (Figure 1).
The number of Internet users is increasing year by year as shown in Table 1 below.
According to International Telecommunication Union, there are about 16,902,600
Internet users as of June 2009, which is 64.6% of the population in Malaysia. Women,
Family and Community Development Minister of Malaysia, Datuk Seri Shahrizat Jalil
said a study by MCMC found that Internet penetration in 2010 was at 60% of 28.6
million population and expected to increase to 70% by 2015 (news on 12nd October 2011,
Wednesday at Borner Post Online).

Figure 1: Internet penetration rate in selected countries.
(Source: http://comm215.wetpaint.com/page/Malaysia+Internet+Penetration)

Table 1: Internet usage and population growth in Malaysia
YearInternet Users

Population%

Source2000

3,700,000

24,645,600

15.0

ITU

2005

10,040,000

26,500,699

37.9

C.I. Almanac

2006

11,016,000

28,294,120

38.9

ITU

2007

13,528,200

28,294,120

47.8

MCMC

2008

15,868,000

25,274,133

62.8

MCMC

2009

16,902,600

25,715,819

65.7

ITU

2010

16,902,600

26,160,256

64.6

ITU

ITU: International Telecommunication Union
C.I. Almanac: Computer Industry Almanac Inc.
MCMC: Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission(Source: http://www.internetworldstats.com/asia/my.htm)

In terms of users’ age group, Figure 2 shows that most of the users are between 15 to 19years old. This indicates that most of the Malaysians start using Internet in upper
secondary school. As more and more people embrace Internet into their daily lives, theimportance of Internet to the users is surveyed by MCMC and the results of theHousehold Use of Internet Survey 2009 show that 28% of the subjects think that theInternet is “very important” to their lives and 51% think that it is “important” (Figure 3).

Figure 2: Internet users by age groups in Malaysia.
(Source: http://comm215.wetpaint.com/page/Malaysia+Internet+Penetration)

Not important at all

1.3% 9.3%
10.4%

28.0%

Not so important
NeutralImportant

51.0%

Very important

Figure 3: Importance of Internet to users.
(Source:http://www.apira.org/data/upload/MicrosoftPowerPoint-HUIS2009Presentationat7thAPIRA)

Figure 4 below shows the purpose of Internet usage. Among all the purposes, 74.8% ofthe users use Internet for communication by text while 46.8% use Internet for social
networking or online community. Communication by text includes using electronic
mails and chatting by using instant messaging through programs like window live
messenger and yahoo messenger. Among the users that use Internet for communication
by text, 97.6% of them use electronic mails, 66.5% use instant messaging for chatting
while 0.6% for other reasons. The usage of communication by text can be ranged frommere chatting, discussing projects and assignments online to business purposes. For
social networking, Figure 5 indicates the programs used by the users with Facebook as
the most popular online social network. According to Internet World Stats, there areabout 11,221,040 Facebook users in Malaysia as of June 2011. However, with theintroduction of Skype and other new online social networks, users tend to follow thetrend by abandoning the previous network and starting a new account in other place.
Therefore, the accuracy of the data is expected to be highly affected and largely changed
in recent years. Through these online social networks, users can share pictures, articles,videos, jokes and even play online games together. Besides making new friends, users
can keep in touch with friends and families who are separated away at certain distant.
Recently, there is an upcoming trend to organize events and parties through these typesof online social networks. Some even use these networks to send out invitations for theirwedding ceremony.

76.9

74.8

50.1

46.8

46.0
27.2
19.6
7.6
OthersHomepagemaintenance

Government services

Financial activities

Educational activities

Socialnetworking/online
community

LeisureCommunication by text

7.0
Getting information

90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
100

Figure 4: Purpose of Internet usage by percentage.
(Source:http://www.apira.org/data/upload/MicrosoftPowerPoint-HUIS2009Presentationat7thAPIRA)

76.1
60.9

26.7
1.4Figure 5: Programs used for social networking/online community.
(Source:http://www.apira.org/data/upload/MicrosoftPowerPoint-HUIS2009Presentationat7thAPIRA)

The language used for communication via Internet in Malaysia is mainly in English.
As a multi-racial country, multi-lingual communication is not uncommon at the Internet.
With Malay Language as the Malaysia national and official language, the Chinese andIndian citizens in Malaysia sometimes use their native language, which is Mandarin
and Hindu, for communication through the Internet. For the ease of typing andcommunication, many Internet users start to create new informal short forms andOthers

1.5
Linked In

2.2
Flickr

4.9
Twitter

6.2
Interactive
online games

6.8
Hi5

TaggedMySpace

Friendster

8.7
Facebook80
70
60
50
40
30
20
100

abbreviations which can only be understood among the Internet users from younger
generation. Instead of words, some tend to use emoticons to express their feelings andthoughts during communication. Besides that, sentences used are usually in incorrect
grammar with wrong spelling. The emergence of this Internet culture is said to be aproblem among students in Malaysia which turn may affect their language proficiency.
Recently, Internet is used as a platform to spread an idea or advocate a movement.
For instance, when some users saw a video about animal abuse in Facebook, their
response towards animal abuse could be strong enough to influence the involved parties
to take appropriate measures for the problem. On the other hand, it is also used as alink to connect different parties at different places to work and cooperate for the same
objectives.
The convenience brought by Internet into our daily lives is undoubtable.
Internet also makes communication possible across long distance which helps to savea lot of time and money. Unfortunately, problems like reduced physical contacts,identity fraud and others arise. According to Cyber Security Malaysia chief executive
officer Prof Datuk Husin Jazri, Cyber Security Malaysia detected 11,930 cybersecurity incidents from January to September 2011, with 4,175 involving fraud, 3,452
spam, 2,345 hacking, 867 malicious code, 525 attempts to hack, 354 cyber harassment
and 48 content-related offences. It was a 130% increase over cyber security incidents in2010 (news on 12nd October 2011, Wednesday at Borner Post Online). There are alsocomments that pointed out that more and more users become addicted to Internet anddependent on their virtual lives, as they feel confident and safe behind the computer
screens. As a result, less time is taken for face to face interactions. And there is worry
that this may affect Internet users’ communication skills in reality. However, thisproblem is still not serious at the present stage. If users are educated about these issues,
Internet should be a very convenient and useful tool to improve communications amongpeople instead of becoming a hindrance.
Many claimed that communications through the Internet is threatening youngsters’
way of making friends. It is undoubtedly that many Internet users make friends in thevirtual world. Also, there are worries that they may get cheated due to identity fraud.
However, recently, with the prevalence of online social networks that require
background information with personal pictures, identity fraud is decreasing comparedto the time when instant messaging were the main trend.
In my opinion, communication through Internet indeed brings a lot of conveniences toour life. From the perspective of a foreign student, it makes frequent communications
possible with friends and families as it is a very cheap, easy and fast way to keep intouch with others. It is also possible to let them know about one’s recent life in othercountry by sharing pictures online. This is especially important for the foreign students
who just arrived in a foreign land without any friends to cure their loneliness. From mypersonal experience, communication through the Internet is also a very efficient way tocontact families and friends during any emergency, like the earthquake which happened
March 11th, 2011 when telecommunication systems were down temporarily. On theother hand, many people tend to lose contact with their ex-classmates after graduate
and they may most probably end up losing contact forever. Internet enables us to knoweach others’ latest whereabouts and recent lives. Some even use it to stay in touch with
their teachers or lecturers. No matter what kind of new inventions it is, mostimportantly is the way people use it. If people do not misuse the Internet, the benefits itbrings to our lives are much more than the disadvantages.