Study public criticisms to improve policies, government told

Senior UTB Lecturer Dr Nor Zainah Siau (R) and Dr Hj Hambali Hj Jaili from
Seri Begawan Religious Teachers University College at the Knowledge Convention

Khai Zem Mat Sani
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

THE government needs to study constructive public criticisms posted on social media to improve policies, a senior Universiti Teknologi Brunei (UTB) lecturer said.

Dr Nor Zainah Siau said constructive criticisms from members of the public should be seen in a positive way to improve government policies.

“Matters conveyed on social media allow the government to look back or review government policies as long as the source or information is verified.

“After verification, government agencies may then be able to resolve problems,” she said during a panel discussion at the Knowledge Convention 2016.

Dr Nor Zainah Siau was responding to an audience member’s question on how should the government handle netizens who use online platforms to criticise the government.

The senior lecturer at UTB’s School of Computing and Informatics said it is not easy to monitor and control how netizens use social media.

“We don’t have control over texts and messages being circulated on social media, be it positive or negative.

“Individuals and organisations do not have control over people posting messages or tweets that insult people or with the use of vulgar language,” she added.

Prior to the question and answer session, Dr Nor Zainah spoke about the benefits and drawbacks of social media on the society.

She said with the availability of social media, it helps the society to express or share their opinion on important issues with other people.

However, the use of social media also leads to the use of “broken language” among youth as they tend to use shortcuts in text messages on social media, said Dr Nor Zainah.

“Despite social media’s drawback on language use, it helps people to access information easily and this indirectly helps them to gain knowledge,” added the speaker.

The discussion yesterday afternoon also featured two presentations on ‘Syariah and Techology’ and ‘Driver’s Negative Behaviour on the Road’ by Dr Hjh Noor Hira Hj Noor Kaseh and Dr Hj Hambali Hj Jaili respectively from Seri Begawan Religious Teachers University College.


Sumber - The Brunei Times