It was not too long ago that each Malaysian family was told to own a computer. I agree totally with such a policy which benefits the country. The policy, which allowed withdrawals from the Employees Provident Fund, enabled low-income families to own on a personal computer, the lack of which would have made information technology alien to them.

However, I also noticed that this policy allowed some people - the 'super-cronies' - to laugh all the way to the bank at the expense of the poor.

The reason was simple - the computer which was supposed to be moderately priced was instead jacked-up by as much as a few hundred ringgit to cater for the particular middlemen who actually benefitted the most from that 'One home, one computer' policy.

Therefore, when I saw the newspaper report that Higher Education Minister Dr Shafie Salleh now wants all undergraduates to have a laptop each, I quickly recalled what had happened in the past.

While the intention is noble (true, can an undergraduate survive without a laptop these days?), I doubt that the policy can be implemented without any 'expense' to the undergraduates. Why? Because some people would be eyeing yet another opportunity to make money.

I doubt, too, that the price of the laptops which will be quoted through whatever government loan scheme, would be as competitive as elsewhere. And I was proved correct on this when my nephew, who was accepted into a public university in Pahang recently, told me that he was required to have a laptop.

My quick response was to ask him to buy one 'outside' and not on campus. And true enough, he purchased one in Kuala Lumpur for easily RM500 cheaper than the ones 'provided' through the National Higher Education Fund and with the same specifications.

The question to ask is why is there such a wide disparity in the prices? Who are those actually benefitting from these schemes? From the looks of it, it must someone who is very close to our policymakers and who must be laughing all the way to the bank.