KUALA LUMPUR: The public are now empowered to highlight community issues through the ActNow mobile app, says MCA secretary-general Datuk Chong Sin Woon.
He said a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed yesterday between the social enterprise and GoCare – an initiative under the MCA Crisis Relief Squad (CRSM) – signified both parties’ commitment to creating a better living environment.
“There are many issues around us such as dirty rivers, blocked drains and even potholes. We should not turn a blind eye to them.
“Through the app, users can directly report these issues to local councils and play an active role in creating more conducive surroundings,” he said at the MOU signing.
GoCare adviser Ng Sing Phing said the collaboration is a bold move from the private sector to take up public responsibility and provide a platform which benefits the community.
“We look forward to the success and leadership of ActNow in being a good example for the public to invest in social enterprises benefiting the community,” said Ng, who is also CRSM secretary-general.
ActNow chief executive officer Melvin Lam said the greatest challenge is getting users to report on community issues.
“Most have the fear of reporting due to the possibility of trouble coming their way alongside worries of data leakage.
“Hence, the application was designed to counter this fear by allowing users to report anonymously,” he added.
Lam said the app currently has about 5,000 users. It is setting a target of 100,000 users by next year.
The majority of users were from urban areas, he added.
Points covered in the MOU include GoCare getting its members to use the app to report community issues, educating the public on the app and promoting its use, and future collaboration on community projects between the signatories.
The ActNow app is multilingual – in Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese, English and Tamil – and available for download on both the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store.