Chong Chieng Jen
KUCHING (Apr 11): State Democratic Action Party (DAP) chairman Chong Chieng Jen said today that he is not buying the reason for the recent system breakdown at the Senari Port given by Minister of Infrastructure and Ports Development Tan Sri Datuk Amar Dr James Masing.
“My friend James Masing said the damage to the Senari Port’s computer system was caused by water entering its electronic conduit. It seems logical but anyone who understands software and hardware knows that this is rubbish.
“Why? Because software does not get damaged by water leakage, only hardware does,” he said during his Facebook live.
The Stampin MP said that for instance, if one used laptop A to access an email account but if laptop A was damaged, the person could still use laptop B to access the same email account.
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“If laptop A got damaged by water or fire, you can use another laptop to access the email account, that’s the difference between software and hardware.
“Software is providing the declaration for the system to run, so you can use another computer system to operate the software. Nowadays, a lot of things are operating on Cloud, you don’t even need a computer to operate but a handphone will do.
“If your handphone is damaged, you can use another handphone. I don’t know how archaic the (Senari) Port’s system is. Just because something is wrong with the hardware and the software cannot operate.
“Don’t treat us like fools, we don’t buy that. Just tell us the reason (for the system breakdown). Don’t tell me there is no backup, and software does not get damaged by water,” the Kota Sentosa assemblyman added.
As such, he challenged Masing to disclose what actually happened.
“Is it sheer incompetence of his (Masing’s) ministry or KPA (Kuching Port Authority) that one simple water leakage can jam the whole system for two weeks? This is not acceptable in this era,” stressed Chong.
On Saturday, Masing said KPA was doing its best to fix the damage to the Senari Port’s computer system caused by water entering its electronic conduit.
The Deputy Chief Mnister said KPA had assured that the repair would be done within the next couple of days.
In a statement on Friday, Chong said the breakdown of the computer system had resulted in the rate of retrievals of containers from the port reducing by more than 50 per cent as the process of container receiving and delivery had to be done manually.
“In this era of technology, it is most unbelievable and unacceptable that the computer system for such an important service of a government agency can break down for such a long time and without any indication when the system will be restored for operation,” he added.