Malaysia MyKad

The first identification card in Malaysia was issued in1948. The primary objective for issuance of the card at that time was to safeguard national safety against the communist threat by controlling the mobility of the people. Self-identification was mandatory for all citizen aged 12 and above and this scheme managed to curb the communists’ mobility since mobility is restricted to identification card holders only. Malaysian Identity Card has gone through so many changes in its effort to improve the physical safety features of the card. Starting from 1960, the identity card had undergone its first evolution from paper card to plastic card with hand-written information. In line with the country’s progress, effort to enhance the safety features continued until 1990 with introduction of High Quality Card with plastic cover and black and white photograph. This is followed by introduction of computerized system to record card holder information. In 1990, JPN introduced High Quality Card with plastic cover and coloured photograph for each card holder. In 1996, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad as the fourth Prime Minister started the Government Multipurpose Smart Card Project or MyKad for the people of Malaysia. He believed that the national economic growth could be enhanced with the usage of MyKad since the K-Economy sector needed a platform to stimulate electronic commerce activities. The world’s first Government Multipurpose Smart Card pilot project was successfully launched on 5 September 2001 by then Deputy Prime Minister, Dato’ Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. The Mykad project was at first premiere application of the Super Corridor and the official launching was the biggest achievement by the MSC initiative.