Are we returning to when proposals to govt were 'stolen'?

 In the bad old days, it was said that no good proposals should be submitted to a particular government agency.

It was claimed that such proposals were copied and passed on to third parties, typically cronies close to the decision-makers.

Hardly anything in the proposals has changed, except for the cover letter, which indicates that it is submitted as a fresh proposal from a different party.

Despite being disappointed that their proposals had been “stolen” and being used to rake in millions, most parties did not seek redemption or remedies for fear of being blacklisted by the agency.

After the unity government came into place in November 2022, one would have thought that such alleged malpractices of the past would be relegated to the archives.

However, on April 26, an innocuous social media post changed that perception.

Claims against Miti

An individual using the handle “Feythehuman” alleged that the Investment, Trade, and Industry Ministry (Miti) appropriated his company’s hard work without due credit or compensation for the Malaysia Pavilion at Expo 2025 in Osaka, Japan.

The main title of the post read: “The Malaysia Pavilion for Expo 2025 Osaka is built on stolen creative work”, with the subheading “our proposal was appropriated by Miti without acknowledgement or compensation”.

It was damning indictment on the government especially the ministry and its officials. Are we returning to bad days with a difference – a “victim” standing up and demanding his right to be compensated for the time, effort, and money spent on the project?

Two years of hard work

Taking to Instagram, Feythehuman claimed his company worked on the project for about two years, just for it to be “taken” by the ministry.

That individual was Fey Ilyas of the creative consultancy firm Current Media Group, and his Instagram, under his own name, has since garnered over 34,000 likes and numerous comments, including one from world-famous Malaysian-born artist Red Hong Yi.

Fey said: “For over two years, we’ve stayed patient. Professional. Silent. We developed the concept, theme, narrative, and architectural direction for the Malaysia Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka.

“We brought in world-class partners, helped secure approvals, and shaped the foundation of Malaysia’s presence on the global stage.”

He also claimed that he was advised to keep quiet about the alleged appropriation, and that being outspoken might jeopardise future opportunities.

“But we chose to speak up. Because dignity is worth more than access. And because staying quiet only protects the people who keep doing this to others,” he added.

The response from Miti was immediate. In a statement, it said: “Miti is undertaking a thorough investigation to gather and ascertain all relevant facts concerning the allegation made by an individual on social media.

“We take this matter very seriously and reserve all our legal rights. Miti remains committed to the highest standards of integrity and compliance in all its dealings.”

It has been more than two weeks, but there has been no progress, which raises the question: How long and how difficult is it to establish the identity of the firm that submitted the (new) “successful” design?

After all, Fey’s company developed the concept, theme, narrative, and architectural direction for the pavilion.

It will be more than a mere coincidence for the same design and concept to be submitted by two different parties.

Blunt response

An industry news portal quoted Fey as saying that when he attempted to speak out publicly about the issue, he was blocked by Investment, Trade, and Industry Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz and restricted on the official Expo 2025 Malaysia Instagram page.

After months of unanswered calls and emails, he stated that they received a blunt response, which indicated that they would not be paid, with Miti citing a lack of procurement records.

Miti was also accused of using the company’s architectural direction, as the consultancy had brought in a Japanese architectural firm Kengo Kuma & Associates and introduced them directly to Miti.

Fey said in his post that his team made every effort to be fairly acknowledged and compensated, but to no avail.

He explained that meetings were held with Zafrul and the Expo secretariat, and several letters were submitted, including a letter of support from Kengo Kuma & Associates, addressed directly to the minister.

"We get it, sometimes plans change, ideas get scrapped, new directions are taken.

“If Miti had decided to start over and called for new proposals in their tender, we would have respected that. But that is not what happened. They continued to use the work we developed," Fey said.

It is an industry norm and unwritten rule that ideas, concepts, and materials shared in a request for proposal (RFP) are solely for evaluating an agency’s services, with ownership remaining with the agency unless fairly compensated.

It would be wrong to suggest that it was an “inside job”. However, to restore confidence among the public, especially among creative individuals and groups, certain areas need to be addressed.

If Fey’s company was involved, Miti officials would have encountered the drawings, designs, and concepts.

Hence, when it made its final decision, didn’t it occur to them that they had seen a similar proposal previously? Didn’t they demand answers from the “successful” agency?

No one should ever have to doubt or suspect that their ideas and concepts submitted to the government are safe.

Given this debacle, it has become onerous on Miti as an arm of the government to provide a detailed report on how it used what has since been described as copied or plagiarised.

After all, how does it attract investments and instil confidence in the industry when it has been accused of breaching the law? - Mkini

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R NADESWARAN is a veteran journalist who tries to live up to the ethos of civil rights leader John Lewis: “When you see something that is not right, not fair, not just, you have to speak up. You have to say something; you have to do something.” Comments: citizen.nades22@gmail.com

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.