999? The emergency number to call once again.

In August, I wrote that "999" is not the emergency number to call but the government has decided, on 1st October, that there should be a free and common number to use for all emergency services.

Energy, Water and Comminications Deputy Minsiter, Datuk Shaziman Abu Mansor launched "999" as the emergency number to call with the motto, "One Nation, One Number", with the promise that such calls will be answered and vetted within 10 seconds.

This is possible because all "999" call handled by trained emergency service staff from TM centres will be channeled to the relevant agencies through a virtual network. Through sharing of information between telecommunications service providers and computer telephony interface, the emergency centres will be able to automatically identify the location of callers through the telephone numbers they call from.

So, pranksters, watch out. Your calls can be easily traced and you can be fined up to RM50,000.00 or jailed for one year, or both.