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THE HEALTH | JANUARY-FEBRUARY , 2023
| Hot Topic |
BY DR RAIS HUSSIN AND AMEEN KAMAL
DESPITE the controversies and potential scandals surrounding MySejahtera , it has been reported that the app would be expanded with an appointment-making system at public primary healthcare facilities .
Expansion plans for the app have been in the works before , and it has been suspected that new modules provide an income stream for the developers in addition to keeping the app relevant .
However , many questions remain and with the new administration in place , it is time for the endless speculations and theories regarding this troubled app to end , better alternatives formulated and those responsible held accountable .
With the app ’ s expansion , the first question is whether the government has signed a contract for the app ’ s procurement or not .
If yes , what are the terms , especially on costs , ownership , and parties involved ? If not , under what deal is this module expansion happening and who is developing it ?
It was reported in October 2022 that the Public Accounts Committee ( PAC ) recommended the government take ownership of MySejahtera .
This is could be mainly driven by the fact that the ownership of MySejahtera appears to be split ( see “ MySejahtera-Related Ownerships Split In Three Ways ”, dated April 8 , 2022 ) between MySJ Sdn Bhd ( MySJ ), the government , and KPISoft / Entomo .
TROUBLED LEADERSHIP
Trouble has been brewing in MySJ ’ s leadership . According to supporting items of court documents , Hasrat Budi ( one of MySJ ’ s shareholders ) is asking for independent consultants to conduct technology assessment , price benchmarking analysis and independent legal advisors to review the fairness of the one-off IP transfer fee and the annual licence service fee that MySJ has to pay to Entomo , and even to look into potential governance issues . A similar , if not more in-depth due-diligence exercise to protect the government ’ s interest should have been done .
As reported , by July this year , a consent judgment was entered for Entomo and Raveenderen to purchase all of Hasrat Budi ’ s shares in MySJ at more than RM24 million . Another MySJ shareholder , P2 Asset Management , had reportedly filed charges for a separate case ( alleged breach of a share sale agreement ) against MySJ , Revolusi Asia ( the majority shareholder in MySJ , with Raveenderen as majority shareholder ) and Entomo Malaysia .
However , according to MySJ data registered at the Companies Commission of Malaysia ( SSM ) on Nov 22 , 2022 , both Hasrat Budi and P2 Asset Management are still listed as shareholders . Both MySJ and Entomo Malaysia registered losses worth over RM76 million and over RM18 million , respectively , according to the same SSM data for MySJ and SSM data registered on Nov 25 ,
MySejahtera : Time to end the endless speculation and theories
Many questions remain and those responsible must be held accountable
2022 , for Entomo Malaysia . This is a troubled and controversial entity , with a past shrouded in mystery , that operates a generic and failing ( underutilised ) app with questionable data security .
If anything , these are reasons NOT to acquire MySejahtera , what more at a premium price , using public funds ? Something is amiss .
There are no upsides for the government to stick with MySejahtera unless there ’ s something that they feel must be acquired , no matter what . Is there something that must be fixed and not become public knowledge ?
POTENTIAL DATA SECURITY ISSUES
How do we know that only the government has exclusive access to the data , especially before any formal contracts were made ? What legal document ( s ) and infrastructure governs data accessibility , exclusivity , security and integrity before and now ?
In addition to probing legal documents , these can only be answered with forensic digital investigations or audits of the entire ecosystem .
Not only is Entomo Malaysia owned by a Singaporean entity , but as reported by a news portal , Entomo Pte Ltd has other shareholders , consisting of Singaporean , American , and Japanese corporate and individual shareholders , and individual shareholders from Malaysia , India and Indonesia .
If the transfer of personal data out of the country did happen , even in the case of fulfilling a contract , users of MySejahtera , i . e ., data subjects ( app users ) have not been approached to give consent . This would mean that Malaysia ’ s Personal Data Protection Act ( PDPA ) has been breached .
This brings us back to the question of why procuring the app appears to be the only option if the government already owns the data as it claims . Why must the platform be MySejahtera ?
The high download rate of the app cannot be the reason to overlook serious issues that plague the app , and it doesn ’ t matter if people don ’ t even trust it enough . Sejahtera