(Aug 18): A national Freedom of Information (FOI) law is not feasible now, minister in the prime minister's department Datuk Paul Low said, as both the government and society have yet to learn how to manage and use information responsibly.

He said there was more to the FOI Act than simply having the freedom to access government data.

"The FOI Act is ideal but when you establish the FOI Act, the first thing you got to know is that the FOI Act is not free. Everything needs a boundary.

"When data is given to society, you must use it responsibly, in a way that's constructive. If you want to have all open data, you must be more responsible," Low, who is in charge of governance and integrity, told reporters after attending the Open Government Partnership seminar in Kuala Lumpur today.

He also said that executing the law would require additional resources and infrastructure.

"To set up a FOI Act, you need infrastructure. You may need 300 people to deal with so much information, so it's not just an Act in itself, as you need information officers. That is why, at the moment, it's not feasible," he said.  

.Only two states in Malaysia – Penang and Selangor – have legislation on freedom of information but this is restricted to matters under the state government’s purview and comes with caveats.

Low said today it was hard for Putrajaya to effectively implement a FOI law even if it wanted to, due to the vast data sets scattered in different agencies and departments which was difficult to streamline and access.

The minister in charge of governance and integrity said Malaysians were also not ready to handle information "responsibly", citing the auditor-general’s reports as an example.

"We are very open at that. But it seems as if the whole government is collapsing," he said of the public's reaction and condemnation toward Putrajaya whenever agencies and departments had their shortcomings highlighted.

"I mean, why should I be giving you data if you are just going to smear my face? If you want to have all open data, you must be more responsible," he added. – The Malaysian Insider