Man once locked up for MySejahtera tweet enraged by latest news on app

 

In June 2021, a man’s home was raided, he was arrested and spent a night in the lock-up for a tweet about MySejahtera funding.

The arrest under the Emergency Ordinance, which was then in place, was for causing public unrest.

The tweet, which landed him in hot water, was one which stated that the RM70 million budget was not for MySejahtera but to pay for a contractor managing the vaccine rollout.

As MySejahtera funding and ownership issues relating to it hit headlines again, the man read the news enraged.

“I am angry because I spent a day in lockup last year and lost my handphone, modem and router (which were held) for months, because I questioned something which the news now shows is true,” he said in a Tweet yesterday.

Aku marah ni sebab aku kena lokap sehari tahun lepas dengan hilang handphone, modem, router sampai berbulan-bulan sebab persoalkan benda yang terbukti hari ni betul dalam berita.

— Abah (@chairman_GLC) March 27, 2022

The 37-year-old, who works in the IT industry, was never identified by the police in their statement on his arrest or in any subsequent news reports.

He was only identified by his Twitter handle at the time - Abah@ChairmanGLC.

Declining to be identified again, when speaking to Malaysiakini today, the man said the recent news made him consider taking legal action against the authorities.

“I want to (take legal action). But I don’t have the time and energy to do it,” he said.

However, the news last weekend did not touch on the developments for the vaccine rollout or what the contractor was tasked to do so, as per the tweet that landed the man in trouble.

Instead, it was about how MySejahtera was developed without a proper contract in place, and how the government is only now negotiating to procure the application.

This was based on the Public Accounts Committee proceedings last week.

Even so, the man believes it vindicates him.  

“The weekend news was that RM70 million wasn’t used for the development of MySejahtera and its portal. Which was what I tweeted in the first place,” he said.

'If we don't speak up for us, who will?'

To date, the case has been classified as “no further action” by the Attorney-General’s Chambers, while the items seized have been returned.

But the man can no longer use his phone, he said, because the authorities had done something to the operating system in the course of their investigation, rendering it unusable.

His Twitter account was also suspended and the contents, which were largely critical of the government, have been wiped out.

Since his release, he has returned to Twitter, with a similar handle, and continues to tweet critically about government policies.

“At first, I was afraid (to go back to tweeting), but if we don’t speak up because we are scared, then who can do so on our behalf?

“When I was arrested under the Emergency Ordinance, there were others hauled up for the same matter but I was the only one who was locked up.

“I knew then that I had hit a nerve and there was some truth to what I said,” he added.

Among those who were investigated last June over comments about MySejahtera was Galen Centre for Health and Policy chief executive Azrul Mohd Khalib.

The think tank’s chief was questioned by police over a November 2020 tweet expressing concern over the protection of data obtained and managed through MySejahtera.

The case is still pending and his seized handphone is still in police possession, Azrul shared in a Twitter exchange with the man yesterday.

He also said he has not heard from the authorities over the matter since last year and is not keen to follow up.

‘Sue them!’

About 24 hours since the man tweeted about his anger, his post has been retweeted more than 2,000 times and liked more than 5,000 times.

It is gaining similar traction as the posting that landed him in the police lock-up.

Largely, netizens responding to him urged him to take the authorities to court while others asked if he needed funds to take legal action.

Clamouring for “justice”, one person said: “Sue them! Sue them for defamation, to make this case an example, and because of your distress and disrupting your work and daily life.”

News that MySejahtera was developed by a private party without a proper contract with the government has raised concern over data protection.

Yesterday, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin assured that only the Health Ministry has access to the data obtained through MySejahtera.

As part of Covid-19 control measures, Malaysians must check-in at premises visited using the MySejahtera app.

However, many have questioned the need for this since the data has not been used for contact tracing in individual cases. - Mkini