FEATURE
INGENIEUR
FEATURE
INGENIEUR
Trends – Communication Technology for Future Generations
By Majidah Hashim , CSRA , CEFI
My grandfather was a hospital administrator in 1956 , when whispers of Malaya ’ s independence reached Penang . He had lived through the Japanese and British occupations , and told me that news of freedom came like a rumour , and everyone was cautious , excited and hopeful at the same time .
Arriving from London on a ship , Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj had landed in Melaka in February that year , where he first declared the country ’ s independence in Padang Bandar Hilir . It would be more than a year later , at a field in front of the Royal Selangor Club , when the Union flag was lowered on August 1957 and the new flag of Malaya was raised to the country ’ s new national anthem , Negaraku .
I tried to imagine what it would be like to live through that sort of anticipation . To receive news of freedom and independence like a rumour . And then slowly receive bits of information . Over months and months and months . I don ’ t think I could . Today , news travels around the globe almost instantaneously . We all know the instant a new K-pop album drops in the market , tickets to stadium concerts can sell out in a matter of minutes , and a paparazzi photo of a celebrity scandal can be retweeted millions of times before the celebrity even realizes it . Before official results have even been announced , mass media and social media pundits have been able to speculate election results , as we all watch vote tallies stack up in real time over a variety of communication channels .
If we transposed the proclamation of Malaya ’ s independence with the communications technology we have today , the very signing of the Federation of Malaya Agreement would have been live streamed straight from Lancaster House in London . The ink on the paper would still be wet when millions of Facebook posts would be circulating around cyberspace celebrating our independence .
In a more recent example , one of the many reflections that we can draw from the COVID-19 pandemic global lockdown , is the important role of communication technology in keeping all of us , well , sane .
Thanks to communication technology , we spent endless hours indoors attending virtual meetings , organising online conferences , learning how to make sourdough bread and doing yoga in virtual groups in front of our computer screens . We will also not forget the many , many virtual open houses we attended as festivities , birthday parties and other social gatherings stretched over the pandemic period .
Again , I can only imagine what we would do , should the global lockdown have happened in say , in the 1980s before the availability of stable and affordable high-speed Internet . To illustrate this point , how many of us could actually go a day without connectivity ? Half a day ? A hour ?
With the accelerated consumption , demand and competency for communication over recent years , here are just some considerations in communication technology for future generations .
48 VOL 97 JANUARY - MARCH 2024