Pandemonium after pandemic: what’s behind MySejahtera fiasco?

KUALA LUMPUR – Confusion and concern were the first reactions following the revelation by Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) over the way the government has been reportedly handling the management of national Covid-19 tracking application, MySejahtera.

In a PAC report released last week, senior civil servants summoned before the committee said the government is studying whether it should sign a contract of service with the company that developed MySejahtera to manage the software, or outright buy the company to secure full rights over the application.

The report revealed that the cabinet had decided to transfer ownership of MySejahtera from the developer to a special purpose vehicle called MySJ Sdn Bhd, which was appointed through direct negotiation.

The Health Ministry was also recently granted approval by the Finance Ministry to negotiate a possible acquisition of the company in control of MySejahtera, the report said.

But a shareholder of MySJ has filed a lawsuit against MySJ and other parties involved in an intellectual property deal on MySejahtera for alleged breach of a share sale agreement, according to a report by health news portal CodeBlue.

What is MySejahtera?

MySejahtera went live on April 20, 2020 as a free service provided by a company called KPISoft Malaysia Sdn Bhd as a corporate social responsibility (CSR) programme over a one-year tenure.

The application became a key tool in the government’s Covid-19 contact tracing and management, and later in the administration of Covid-19 vaccines under the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme.

The government said it has compiled personal and movement data of some 38 million Malaysians, foreign residents and travellers through MySejahtera.

However, up until now, the government has yet to sign any formal contract with the developers of MySejahtera, though the Health Ministry says it is the custodian of all the data collected.

Who is KPISoft Malaysia?

In July 2020, the National Security Council announced that two local entrepreneurs, Anuar Rozhan and Raveenderan Ramamoothie from KPISoft Malaysia, were the brains behind MySejahtera.

KPISoft Malaysia was founded in 2010 under the auspices of the Malaysian Digital Economy Corporation and was accorded Multimedia Super Corridor status.

Filings for KPISoft Malaysia could not be found on the Companies Commission of Malaysia’s (SSM) database.

However, the company’s name came up in SSM filings under a company called Entomo Malaysia, which stated that it was previously known as KPISoft Malaysia up until May 2020.

Entomo Malaysia is listed as wholly owned by Entomo Pte Ltd, a Singapore-based company which operates in the United States, UAE, Austria, India and Malaysia, and is owned by two firms – Singaporean venture capital outfit Vickers Venture Partners and Japanese telco NTT Docomo Ventures Incorporated.

Checks showed that Raveenderan is listed on Entomo’s international website as a founder and group chief executive.

What is MySJ Sdn Bhd?

MySJ was registered with the SSM in September 2020 with four shareholders – three entities which are Revolusi Asia Sdn Bhd, Hasrat Budi Sdn Bhd, P2 Asset Management Sdn Bhd, and an individual, Ganesan Shanmugam, 58.

Raveenderan and Anuar are listed as MySJ directors, and as shareholders in Revolusi Asia, along with one Naveen Pralhad Deshpande.

MySJ’s SSM filing names four other directors: Eco World Malaysia executive chairman Tan Sri Liew Kee Sin, executive director Datuk Heah Kok Boon, Sapura Energy former president Tan Sri Shahril Shamsuddin and Bersatu’s Tan Sri Megat Najmuddin Megat Khas. – The Vibes, March 29, 2022