KRDS India, one of the Facebook-authorized app development firms in Asia, opines that spending RM1.8 million to develop six Facebook applications is 'impossible' and 'seriously unjustifed.'
(Free Malaysia Today) - Malaysia, it seems, is fast becoming the purveyor of laughs on the worldwide web.
On the heels of the Obedient Wives Club which aimed to turn ‘good wives into first class whores’, there’s now the Malaysian government spending RM1.8 million (US$590,000) on six Facebook, which incidentally is free, applications.
The Internet application (app) developer world is abuzz with humour and bewildement at the ‘stupidity’ of the move.
The common view across the web is that the move to spend just over half a million US dollars is “seriously stupid” and an “utter waste of tax-payers’ money.
Speaking in Penn Olson – The Asian Tech Catalogue site – Willis Wee said in an article headlined “Spending US$100,000 For a Facebook App is Just Plain Stupid” and many other experts in the business think so too.
Wee said he forwarded the news about the Malaysian government’s largesse to Preetham Venkky, the Business Head at KRDS India, one of the Facebook authorized app development firms in Asia, to seek his opinion on the matter.
Preetham’s reply was that spending RM1.8 million (USD$590,000) to develop six Facebook applications was ‘impossible’ and ‘seriously unjustified’.
He said: “For an app like Citrawana (one of the six) to costs close to US$100,000, this is impossible since the app is pretty straight to the point.
“The money paid is seriously unjustified. It should cost anywhere between US$12,000 – US$15,000 inclusive of two iPads being given away as prizes.
He added that “these costs would include (to quote directly) – “creative works, concepts and ideas, design, flash programming and coding, testing and debugging, uploading and launching of application, system server development and maintenance, and development of database from the contest.”
Potentials not exploited
Earlier this week, the Tourism Ministry, through Deputy Minister James Dawos Mamit, set off a storm when it revealed it had paid that amount for the Facebook apps.
In his reply, Venkky said it was important to note that based on the minister’s statement “cost did not include campaign management, monitoring, Facebook ads, or fan recruitment through Facebook and Google”.
“In most cases, the costs can escalate quite rapidly if a key deliverable is fan count.
“If there’s a target to acquire one million US fans for the page (this could be a realistic expectation since the client is a tourism client) where the CPC (cost per click) is US $1.10 (on average) then it might be a good deal.
“If I were to make a guess, I think it would make sense if $90,000 includes the development of six apps with the remaining money spent on media (buying ads) to propagate and rapidly increase engagement,” he added.
Venkky was also shocked at the quality of the apps that were developed which, he said, did not fully utilise the full potential of the social network site and was not encouraging more ‘fans’ to ‘like’ the pages of the Tourism Ministry.
written by Taikohtai, June 18, 2011 08:56:59
Even the neighbours Indonesian and Phillipines are climbing out of their abysses while BN digs a bigger hole for the country in record debts.
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written by SiHangChai, June 17, 2011 23:24:56
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written by Kaneeneh, June 17, 2011 17:17:39
That's the Malaysian Government's thought, that we are all stupid, like them.
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written by batsman, June 17, 2011 16:30:39
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written by Wakeupmsia, June 17, 2011 16:19:35
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written by ramamanian, June 17, 2011 16:02:31
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written by Ezzy, June 17, 2011 15:58:01
And what sort of campaign are you talking about? I don't get this la. The TV and radio are yours, what else do you need. I don't expect you are going to have carnival every month in every town in the country just to promote and market your facebook! What a waste!
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written by bambooman, June 17, 2011 15:11:08
The politicians are "proud" to be a Malaysian ! ! ! !........They are proud to be laughed at ! ! !......They are proud to be exposed for committing the crimes of rape, stealing and slandering .......becos the institutions that is supposed to fight such crimes are permitting them to walk the streets as a free man ! ! ! !
And the Malaysian's politicians have no shame when they commit mistakes - and they still have the cheek to put the blame on the Rakyat ! ! ! !
My fellow Malaysian.......you still wanna keep UMNO in Putrajaya ? ? ? ? ?.......Not for meeee ! ! ! ! ! !
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written by Atheist, June 17, 2011 14:55:15
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written by arazak, June 17, 2011 14:40:05
What can you expect? Sad to say we are being governed by stupid leaders who knows nothing other than looting and plundering!
And they have thick skin too. . ., despite their plundering and looting had been exposed repeatedly over and over again, they still want to loot! In other words, they are stupid and greedy!
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That's PM's Najib's vision-mission for ALL his crooked cronies