UMNO members must increase their IT and new media literacy

Umno President Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak in his various speeches, has repeatedly stressed on the importance for Umno members to increase their information technology (IT) and new media literacy to enable them to influence and win the cyber war.

Unfortunately, many Umno members were still lagging behind in the IT world, with some don't even have an e-mail, let alone a blog or to be an active player in Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or any other social networking sites which can provide up-to-date information at their fingertips.

Describing the situation as disappointing, Wanita Umno Permanent Chairperson Tan Sri Napsiah Omar said it shouldn't be happening in this modern world, especially when Umno was in the midst of making significant transformation.

"In the world where information is just a click away...there are some Wanita Umno members who don't even have an e-mail.

"How can a member of Wanita Umno, which is Umno's backbone, not having an email, which is the very important method of exchanging digital messages?" she told Bernama.

Napsiah said social media had their own power and impact to the people from all walks of life and Wanita Umno members should be committed to master the technology.

She explained that being over the age of 40 should not be a factor for Wanita Umno members not to be active players in the cyber world or to be among the first to know about any current development.

"Wanita Umno members have an important role to play. Therefore, they must have up-to-date information about everything that is happening around them...and around the world.

"Now, a piece of news can change in a matter of seconds...that is why we want Wanita Umno members to keep up and make optimal use of IT," she said.

Meanwhile, political observer Assoc Prof Dr Shamrahayu Abdul Aziz said IT was not only a medium for Wanita Umno members to connect and to obtain information, but also to enable the movement to remain relevant.

She said the movement, especially its top leaders, should lead the way in getting up-to-date information, so that they would not be lagged behind.

"Like it or not, IT has become a need...anybody and any group, especially a movement entrusted to serve the society, should be IT-literate.

"There is no excuse for a member of Wanita Umno, or anybody, not to be IT-literate or not to have an email because in today's world, almost everybody is using a smartphone," she said.

Shamrahayu said through certain applications that could be downloaded for free to their smartphones, such as WhatsApp and Blackberry Messenger (BBM), a person could create a group, not only for discussions, but also to share information, files and images.

"No matter how busy the members of the group are, they can still communicate with each other at any time, hence keeping in touch and strengthen their relationship," she added.