Malaysians riled by requirement to use national identification system for Road Transport Department’s MyJPJ app

SINGAPORE: In a move that has vexed some Malaysians, the country’s Road Transport Department (JPJ) will require citizens to use the MyDigital ID national identification system to log in to the MyJPJ app from Oct 10. 
The department’s MyJPJ app is used to view and renew one’s driver’s licence and road tax, as well as view one’s vehicle ownership certificate.  
MyDigital ID is a single-sign on system similar to Singapore’s Singpass identification system.  
On Dec 1 last year, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim became the first to register his digital identification. By July 10 this year, about 466,000 Malaysians including civil servants were registered, Digital Minister Gobind Singh Deo said. Its app for smartphones became available in August. 
The JPJ’s announcement on Tuesday (Oct 1) makes it the first government agency to mandate the use of MyDigital ID to access a service, news outlet Malay Mail reported. 
Netizens voiced concern for the less tech-literate and noted the short lead time of nine days for the implementation.  
They were also worried about cybersecurity and questioned why the JPJ could not make MyDigital ID optional. The MyDigital ID app often froze and was laggy, some complained.
Those who tried registering for MyDigital ID in recent days but failed repeatedly vented their frustration online.
“Been doing it for (two) days and every time end up with server time out,” Facebook user Daniel Wang commented. 
“Please rectify the problem before ‘forcing’ us to use it,” wrote another netizen Kp Fong. 
MyDigital ID aims to be the single verification system needed for Malaysians to log in to various apps and portals. 
MyDigital ID Sdn Bhd, which operates the app, said earlier this year that it has integrated access to several government services like the MyJPJ app, Human Resources Management Information System (HRMIS) Mobile, MySejahtera, and MyGov portal.  
More government services will be integrated with the platform, added the organisation, which is a subsidiary of Malaysia’s Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation’s Mimos Berhad, which developed the MyDigital ID app.