General
Who started MyMP?
MyMP was originally started by MCCHR (Malaysian Centre for Constitutionalism and Human Rights) in 2014, as part of their UndiMsia! initiative, to educate young voters about Malaysian parliamentary proceedings.
What you’re seeing now is what we internally (and fondly) call MyMPv2, started by a group of volunteers in 2020, working in collaboration with MCCHR. While the initial project was successful in reaching out to over 8000 young urban voters, the goal with MyMPv2 is to reach an even wider audience, and serve as a constant monitor to the performance of Malaysian MPs.
Why didn’t we just use the previous version of MyMP?
Well, the previous version was good, but we wanted a more dynamic interface, and one of the central ideas was an RPG-like interface, with 8bit characters to show Malaysian politicians in a fun, yet non-partisanly practical way.
We also wanted to track a lot more than the previous site was capable of – for instance, winning margins in elections, and the number of parties and alliances each politician had participated in historically.
Who drew these 8bit characters?
We got a talented local Malaysian designer named Ivan, through his company Alchy.my to illustrate these adorable portraits for us. We didn’t pay him much, so please please show your appreciation for his work by giving him more!
How are you funded?
MyMPv2 is funded by MCCHR through grants. Rest assured that we receive no funding from any political party in Malaysia.
Are you guys owned by DAP/UMNO/PAS/KJ/PN?
No we are not. Please refer to the above point. Our founders are open to scrutiny of political meddling because we come from a background that has engaged with both sides of the political divide, and our goal is genuinely to improve the performance of Malaysian politicians regardless of party lines. Please email us at [email protected] for interviews or questions.
Why are you guys scoring MPs?
Well, someone should! Just kidding. Kinda. There’s actually quite a lot of information about MPs available freely through hansards (Malaysia’s official parliamentary records), Wikipedia, and other sources like SinarProject. However, the data is often hard to go through, primarily used by researchers.
What we wanted was a way for the public to see this information in a way that was simple, yet accurate. The more people that have meaningful access to this data, the more informed voters we have. And that places the responsibility on MPs to perform their duties in office responsible to the people who voted them in.
Can I get in touch with MPs through your site?
We aren’t focused on being a contact point for MPs. What we’re focusing on is making sure the rakyat can contact them, which is why you’ll see ranking points for Availability, next to the contact information of any MP in Malaysia.
Some of them don’t have social media presences, or even valid service centres, which we feel is important to highlight. However, for those that do, you can contact them by clicking on the links in each MP profile.
Can I use the info here for my own website?
Almost all the information we have on the website is available publicly. We recommend sourcing directly. However, if you’d like to use any of the analysis, or the drawings on this site… please credit us, or better, get in touch with us via [email protected].
Can I help this?
YES! We are always looking for volunteers and donations to the cause. Please help if you can. Click here to go to our volunteer page.
I’m an MP.
What can I do here?
Well, if you’re doing your job genuinely for the benefit of the people, that’s already a good step! You can also check your own personal information on the site to see if it’s up to date. If it isn’t, please flag the page and send us details and we’ll try to correct it as best we can.
What if my information is incomplete/inaccurate?
There is a page-flagging function on each MP’s profile. Please flag it and let us know what the error is. We will try our best to fix it.
How do I improve my score?
Well, the scoring sheet can be accessed here. By improving your metrics, or letting us know that you’ve done a particular task (e.g. sending us your CTOS declaration), we will update the scores accordingly.
Scoring
Scoring MPs
Who decides what the scores are?
The scores are calculated based on real-world data. However, the algorithm and weightage are decided by MyMP admin and MCCHR, with consultation of journalists, MPs and other NGOs. If you have suggestions or disagreements with the algorithm (available here), please let us know and let’s have a chat.
We will also endeavour to hold regular public discourse about the algorithm, as it should reflect what the rakyat WANT to see out of their MPs.
For now, think of the weightage as more of an easy way to view the data, and not so much a RANKING system per se. At the end of the day, what you should really be putting stock into is the data itself. We are merely providing a useful way for you to see the qualities of an MP at a glance.
How often are the scores updated?
After the initial batch of data is keyed in, we will update annually if funding permits. Aside from the annual updates, we will also update when
- An election occurs, meaning that new MPs will have to be added, and old ones removed (this data will be maintained as an archive).
- A change in seat, either from a bi-election or some other unusual circumstance
- New information is introduced – e.g. An MP updates his CTOS declaration, or a new MP website/contact is launched
- When an MP page is flagged as inaccurate – we will endeavour to correct the misinformation in the shortest time possible.
Data Sources
How accurate is your data?
Short answer – Our data is as accurate as the source.
Long answer – It depends on where we got it from.
For availability of websites and social media, we depend on a team of volunteers to check, so while errors may occur, admins also vet every data entry occurrence and try to ‘clean’ it before it is uploaded to the site.
For wikipedia data on win rates and general information, these sources have been fairly well-updated over the years.
For Parliamentary Records (Hansard) data, this is probably the closest to full records, except that parliamentary attendance is still not officially released (this is definitely something we want to see happen).
Hope that answers your question. If you have specific questions about any of the data you see on our site, do reach out to us.