STILL reeling from the controversy surrounding MySejahtera data protection for contact tracing mobile applications, there have even been calls to discard the system now. Of course, that’s easier said than done.

The Malaysian Medical Association has said it is time to consider relinquishing the use of MySejahtera as the country transitions into the endemic phase, adding that the app’s scanning features are no longer beneficial.

Its president, Dr Koh Kar Chai, said the app may have outlived its usefulness for contact tracing given the large number of cases within and surrounding the community.

Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has also asked for the app to be done away with.

But MySejahtera is for more than just entering premises or revealing a record of vaccinations. Let’s not forget that it has become an acceptable and recognised app for Malaysians to use to enter most foreign nations.

Many countries insist on verifying if a visitor has at least two vaccinations or the added safety of a booster jab. The brand of vaccine is also a point of concern for many governments.

A large portion of the Western world, for example, doesn’t accept Sinovac, while China won’t accept Pfizer or AstraZeneca. So the reference point for now is still MySejah-tera, which is at least some form of an official declaration issued by the Malaysian Health Ministry.

Almost all countries in the world have some form of a digital contact tracing application.

If you visit Singapore, you will need to download Trace Together, which is still required for compulsory registration before entry into all premises. In Indonesia they have PeduliLindungi, while Hong Kong has the Leave Home Safe app.

To put it succinctly, all the talk of abolishing MySejahtera is premature and certainly ill-advised.

The crux of the controversy is the ownership of MySejahtera and public concern about the protection of the data of over 30 million Malaysians. There are certainly grounds for concern.

Malaysians aren’t the only ones that have raised a flag. All around the world, people are debating the same questions and demanding answers from their governments.

In Australia, for example, the concerns include what’s called “function creep”, with contact tracing information being used for other law enforcement purposes even though the country has laws preventing this.

There were also initial concerns regarding the government tracking people, which was soon allayed by its COVIDSafe app that doesn’t use GPS.

Australia’s Cyber Security Cooperative Research Centre has also carried out a cyber security review to ensure that the personal information collected is limited.

It’s also not unusual for countries to use or adopt technology from foreign developers or incorporate technologies developed by governments of other countries.

For example, Colombia’s CoronApp is developed by its government but uses technologies from the Singapore and South Korean governments, as well as Apple.

The Fijian government reportedly launched its careFIJI app based on the BlueTrace protocol developed by the Singapore government.

Last week, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin assured the public that the Malaysian government owns MySejahtera, adding that the Malaysian Administrative Modernisation and Management Planning Unit (Mampu) and National Cyber Security Agency (Nacsa) conducted a penetration and vulnerability test before the app was launched.

He said Nacsa conducted a monthly audit trail on the MySejahtera servers and that its Cyber Coordination and Common Centre monitors the app to detect possible breaches.

The ownership and management of the MySejahtera app made headlines recently when it was revealed that KPI Soft, now known as Entomo, sold the app’s intellectual property and software licence to MySJ Sdn Bhd for an eye-watering RM338.6mil.

The sale prompted questions about the safety of the data contained on MySejahtera servers, especially when it was revealed that Entomo is owned by a Singaporean company. But Khairy has clarified that while Entomo is based in Singapore, the company’s shareholders are largely Malaysian.

I agree with Khairy that we need to adopt a more broad-minded approach because many Malaysians have set up their tech ventures outside the country, with Singapore and the United States as the preferred choices.

A digital hub isn’t just a cluster of buildings. It also encapsulates the skills and ideas from the brains behind it, with real financial backing from the government and venture capitalists.

The truth is, the Malaysian government has not done a great job with this, and one shining example is how Grab had to seek out Singapore after Malaysia had turned it down.

Founded in 2012, Grab started as the MyTaxi app based in Kuala Lumpur, but then moved to Singapore in 2014 and was rebranded as Grab after Temasek Holdings backed Vertex Venture Holdings, saying that to grow big, they had to move to Singapore. It was a missed opportunity for Malaysia.

Khairy also said the government has not paid a single sen to any parties for the management of MySejahtera, adding that no payments have been made to “KPI Soft, Entomo or MySJ”.

But this may not be the best way to handle things. The developer has provided its service to Malaysia as a corporate social responsibility (CSR) exercise for one year, but surely nothing can be free forever, especially since additional features have been included in MySejahtera.

For example, this writer has been made to understand that MySejahtera’s Helpdesk doesn’t function effectively because it lacks the ideal number of staff to handle queries and complaints from users.

The government surely can’t expect the developer to use money from its own pocket to hire workers. Here is where Khairy is right – there must be a proper agreement between the government and the developer after the one-year CSR period ends.

As for the rumoured RM338.6mil the government is set to pay MySJ for the app, Khairy said the amount was exaggerated, but added “we are in the final stages of negotiation, it is less than RM300mil’.

It will be interesting to see what the agreed figure is because while we can’t expect it to be cheap, we certainly won’t accept a hefty bill either.

It looks like we either buy the app, extend the lease or refrain from using it and create a new one.

According to various news reports, Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) reportedly spent more than £35bil (RM193bil) on its contact tracing app. In March 2021, its Parliament reported that as of May 2020, NHS Test and Trace had been set up with a budget of £22bil (RM121bil). “Since then, it has been allocated £15bil (RM82.8bil) more, totalling £37bil (RM204bil) over two years.”

The amount, understandably, became a hot topic in Parliament with the Opposition describing it as “unimaginable.”

The New Zealand Herald reported that the Kiwi government paid NZ$6.4mil (RM18.64mil) to build its tracer app, while the New Daily reported Australia paid AU$8mil (RM25mil) for its own app.

Germany’s Corona-Warn-App reportedly cost the government €20mil (RM93mil).

While a smaller start-up could incur a lower cost, let’s remember that developers will always charge for additional work and features.

For now, Malaysians must insist our data is secure and not vulnerable to abuse, and that MySejahtera will have fresh features because, as the MMA rightly pointed out, it could be outdated soon. But taxpayers are certainly not expecting to foot an astronomical bill.

The World Health Organisation has said the severity of the disease caused by the Covid-19 virus would wane over time due to greater public immunity but warned that a more dangerous variant could be lurking around the corner.

I would rather stick with MySejahtera, practise physical distancing and keep my double-layer mask on than trust politicians who are asking us to dump the app.

Bound to rise: Malaysians will have to pay more for food because of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the impact of climate change, health-related shocks, and conflicts which disrupt global supplies, including food. — Filepic/The Star

IT’S already been a month since the war broke out in Ukraine. Most countries would have thought that it would be a swift invasion by Russia, but it looks like a prolonged battle now.

The continuing conflict means that it will take a greater toll on Malaysia – and the rest of the world – even though Ukraine is over 8,200km away.

If the strife escalates and damages global trade and economic recovery, it will stunt Malaysia’s growth. For starters, we’ve already been paying more for Ron 97 petrol over the past few months, even before the Russian onslaught.

The rising price of oil may have helped to increase the government’s revenue since we’re an oil exporter.

We could be earning around RM1bil a month in extra revenue compared with April 2020 on average.

Quoting the Asean+3 Macro-economic Research Office, every US$1 (RM4.20) increase in oil price contributes RM646mil to Malaysia’s gross domestic product (GDP) and RM339mil to government revenue.

The report also said that, overall, the US$75 (RM316) increase from April 2020 to now may have added RM48.5bil to GDP and RM25.4bil to government revenue in that span of 22 months.

But the additional income has also been channelled towards fuel subsidies in ensuring a stable price for Ron 95 and diesel. The extra money, unfortunately, will also go to Covid-19 expenditure.

However, the hike in oil price will not aid in stifling inflation and keeping the cost of goods down.

Farmers have found that they need to set aside more for fertilisers. Supplies are also slowing down.

It’s not just for oil palm growers but also for vegetable and fruit growers. Naturally, the cost will be borne by consumers.

If farmers cut down on fertilisers, these cash crops would still grow but we could see smaller cabbages and watermelons.

The price of essential materials for fertilisers, such as nitrogen, phosphate and potassium, has shot up.

It’s the same with urea, intensively used for nitrogen fertiliser, which was priced at RM1,300 per tonne in early January but is now RM4,000 per tonne.

China, for example, which exports urea and ammonia, has cut down on exports drastically to ensure it has enough for itself.

Chicken feed will, no doubt, be one of the most expensive items as the surge in the price of grain is now evident. It simply means the cost of poultry will spike, so eating chicken rice or fried chicken with nasi kandar will be costlier at some point, or the portions could be smaller.

What happens in Europe will also affect Malaysia. For example, many European countries, for all their rhetoric, still depend on Russian gas. They can’t produce any manufacturing parts without gas. It’s as simple as that.

Russia supplies over 60% of Germany’s natural gas requirement. It also exports to Europe 50% of the continent’s neon needs, which is necessary for the semiconductor industry.

And don’t forget, there is also titanium, of which 30% of the world’s supply comes from Russia, and it is a crucial building block for the aerospace industry, including the construction of planes in Europe and the United States.

When it comes to edible oils, Ukraine provides most of the world’s sunflower oil demand. With that nation being Ground Zero, its entire sunflower oil supply has been wiped out.

If Europe stops buying from Russia, sunflower oil production will come to a halt. For sure, Britons will find cooking their fish and chips a more expensive experience.

Ukraine is the world’s largest producer and exporter of sunflower oil, with a market share of 47% of global exports while Russia’s share is 29.9%, reportedly accounting for 60% of global production in 2020 and 2021.

Russia is the world’s largest exporter of grains while Ukraine is responsible for 16% of global corn export.

No doubt, the sharp increase in crude palm oil prices will offset the hikes in fertiliser costs with CPO topping RM8,000 per tonne for the first time early this month.

Naturally, palm oil and soya oil will gain from the conflict, and beneficiaries of that include Malaysia and Indonesia.

But we have yet to prioritise food security, even after spending RM55.5bil on food products in 2020 – compared with RM33.8bil in exports – to meet consumer demand.

As an import-dependent country, food security should be on the minds of our leaders. But how many of us have seen them deliberate this?

Non-essential issues, which warrant no immediate action, seem to be of greater interest to these politicians.

Malaysians will have to pay more for food because of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the impact of climate change, health-related shocks, and conflicts which disrupt global supplies, including food.

It’s frightening to see our short-sightedness. We treat our rivers like sewers, we cut down our trees, and we don’t even produce enough food.

In the end, the B50 – the poorest of Malaysians – will be the hardest hit. It’s high time we woke up to this debilitating reality.

New normal: Covid-19 is here to stay, so we need to learn to live with the coronavirus and hold a general election amid the health crisis. – THOMAS YONG/The Star

IT doesn’t take a genius to suss out investors’ feelings about Malaysia. It’s not the most attractive place to do business in for a variety of reasons, and if our politicians care to speak to the various commerce chambers, they will hear it straight.

Topping the list of hindrances is the protracted political instability that has plagued the country since the 2018 general election.

We’ve had three Prime Ministers since then, and while we now have some resemblance of political stability because of the truce between the government and the opposition, we’re still explicitly aware of its finite lifespan.

The Memorandum of Understanding inked by both sides ends in July, which is less than five months away. We all know that it’s a fragile relationship glued together at the behest of the palace to ensure that we can ride the storm of the pandemic. Even before the MOU’s expiration date, the political decibels have gone up a few notches with demands from Umno – a major stakeholder in the Federal Government – for a general election.

There have been reservations from Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri and some Cabinet members, including those from Umno, over the chorus for a GE, but it will be difficult to go against the tide of Umno members.

Yes, Malaysia hasn’t broken free of the shackles of Covid-19, but it’s now endemic. It’s here to stay, so it can’t be a convincing reason to stall an election.

Besides, we’ve already had the Sabah, Melaka, Sarawak and Johor state elections.

But let’s put political reasons aside. Investors are not taking Malaysia seriously because they see the present government as a floating one headed by a PM who needs to earn his mandate.

That mandate can only be obtained if there is a GE. It doesn’t bode well that he’s not the head of his own party.

Financial analysts have long warned that such a political impasse would cause problems in raising national borrowing limits and stymieing spending.

It has also blighted Bursa as Malaysia continues to be the worst performer in the region. While politics isn’t the only reason since there’s also an absence of tech stocks, bickering politicians aren’t helping the cause.

If there’s no clear leadership, even with Ismail replacing Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, the country will still be dogged by further uncertainty, which just translates to economic stagnation.

And here’s the irony. The media reported on Aug 13, 2021, the then PM, Muhyiddin, pledging that GE15 will be held latest by July 2022 end.

Despite the positive economic narrative and projections, it’s difficult to see how Malaysia can engineer a different growth trajectory.

There will still be direct foreign investments coming in, but we’re fighting regional counterparts including Vietnam and Indonesia.

Politics isn’t just the monopoly of politicians. The sentiments of foreign investors do matter because foreigners contribute about 40% to Malaysia’s sovereign debt.

It’s no secret that foreign money has been flowing out of the country because the pandemic and political instability have delayed economic planning and stalled attempts at tax reform.

The priority for investors is for a stable leader to emerge because the economic outlook could turn cloudy. But how do we resolve this political crisis?

Political stability was Malaysia’s bestselling story to investors once. Imagine that.

No one wants to hear a bad story. The word among foreign investors is that certain ministers haven’t even met stakeholders to hear them out.

If that’s true, it’s scandalous because a few are, in fact, revenue earning ministries.

These ministers seem to be placed there because of power sharing and as reward for keeping the Federal Government intact. However, question marks remain over their interest in their portfolios, or if they’re even qualified for the job.

Such a perception, true or false, doesn’t endear Malaysia to investors.

Investors see the current Federal Government as precarious and, truth be told, not many are in the mood to extend the MOU.

But calling a GE isn’t a panacea either if the result from the poll continues to be fragmented and unconvincing.

One thing is certain, though – dragging on with an unsalvageable broken relationship is simply unrealistic.