Malaysian govt agency warns against false 'gadget grant' offers
"MSME Digital Grant 2025 -- Get a free cellphone/tablet for micro, small or medium enterprises," reads the Malay-language Facebook post on March 17, shared alongside an image of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim beside a logo for his "Malaysia Madani" (Civil Malaysia) policy framework (archived link).
The post goes on to claim the grant was a collaboration between several government agencies, including the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), the government-owned Bank Simpanan Nasional and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC).
It adds that the "limited grant" is offered to micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and urges interested parties to apply at a link that directs users to a WhatsApp chat room.
Another version of the claim shared earlier on January 10 featured an image with several different brands of mobile phones and tablets that could be obtained via the purported grant.
The claim also appeared on Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu.
AFP reached out to one of the phone numbers listed and was given an order form asking for personal details including the applicant's full name and delivery address. Applicants are also asked to prepare a copy of their national identity card and bank statement.
MDEC has labelled the posts "fake news" and called them "malicious".
Keyword searches on Google led to a Facebook post by MDEC on March 28 reading: "Fake News Alert! MDEC strongly denies false claims about a so-called MADANI digital grant for MSMEs" (archived link).
"This news is entirely false and malicious and neither the government nor MDEC has anything to do with this grant," the statement further reads.
"There are no free smartphones or laptops," an MDEC spokesperson told AFP on April 4.
The spokesperson directed the public to grants published on its official website instead, such as one inviting companies to become "Digitalisation Partners" and provides small and medium enterprises with a 5,000 ringgit grant (archived link).
Applications for this grant closed on March 31, 2025, according to the official website.
AFP has previously debunked similar posts impersonating government agencies to offer loans and free driving licences.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Customer charged RM30 for mixed rice in JB, then called out by owner over misleading photo angle
Would you pay RM30 for a plate of mixed rice? If your idea of nasi campur still revolves around a budget-friendly meal where you can eat to your heart's content without breaking the bank, it might be time for a reality check. A man in Johor Bahru recently took to Facebook to share his shock over being charged RM30.20 for a single plate of cai peng at Sentosa Curry Rice in Taman Sentosa. In his post, he included a photo of his meal, detailing the items he picked: a piece of curry chicken, some braised pork and egg, plus a serving of curry vegetables. Like most of us, he didn't bother to ask for the price of each dish while piling food onto his plate, thus, was blindsided when it was time to pay. To top it off, the bill included a 6% SST charge. Apparently, this wasn't his first rodeo. He claimed to be a long-time patron, dating back to the shop's humble pushcart beginnings, particularly fond of their fried chicken. So naturally, the RM30 price tag would hit harder. Many netizens chimed in, siding with the man and dropping jokes here and there. But not everyone took his side. A user posted an estimated itemised bill of his meal while calling him out for being 'greedy'. The plot thickened when the eatery's owner responded with a detailed breakdown of the cai peng, which included: Curry chicken (RM6) Rice (RM4) Braised eggs (RM1.50) Curry vegetables (RM4) Braised pork (RM15) Chinese tea (RM1) She also pointed out that he had taken a rather generous helping of pork, something not clearly reflected in his photo, and accused him of using a strategic camera angle to downplay the portion. However, the man wasn't backing down. He responded, insisting that he didn't even order any drinks, throwing the validity of the breakdown into question. The internet remained divided: some argued that RM15 for 10 pieces of pork (RM1.50 each) was fair enough, while others couldn't get over the RM4 charge for plain rice. What about you — which side are you picking? Wacky Mart convenience store snack series to release on Fri The post Customer charged RM30 for mixed rice in JB, then called out by owner over misleading photo angle appeared first on
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Rice prices Japan's hot political issue, on and off the farm
All is calm at Satoshi Yamazaki's rice farm, with its freshly planted rows of vivid-green seedlings, but a row over the cost of the staple in Japan is threatening to deal the government a blow at the ballot box. Shortages of the grain caused by a supply chain snarl-up have seen prices almost double in a year, fuelling frustration over inflation -- and voters could let their anger be known in upper house elections due next month. To help ease the pain for consumers and restaurants, the government started tapping emergency stockpiles in March, having only previously done so during disasters. Yamazaki, who grows about 10 percent of his rice organically using ducks to eat pests, said he understands high prices are "troubling" for ordinary people. But he stressed that thin profits are a concern for many of those who produce it. "There's a gap between shop prices and what farmers sell rice for to traders and the like," he told AFP in the northern Niigata region. "Not all the money paid at shops becomes our income," said Yamazaki, a 42-year-old father of seven. A mosaic of factors lies behind the shortages, including an intensely hot and dry summer two years ago that damaged harvests nationwide. Since then some traders have been hoarding rice in a bid to boost their profits down the line, experts say. The issue was made worse by panic-buying last year prompted by a government warning about a potential "megaquake" that did not strike. - 'Old' rice - Meanwhile, the rising price of imported food has boosted the popularity of domestic rice, while record numbers of tourists are also blamed for a spike in consumption. Farm minister Shinjiro Koizumi has pledged to cut prices quicker by selling stockpiled rice directly to retailers -- attracting long queues to some shops. It appears to be working: the average retail price has edged down for a second week to 4,223 yen ($29) for five kilograms (11 pounds), down from a high of 4,285 yen in May. That hasn't stopped opposition politicians -- with an eye on the elections -- and online critics branding the reserve rice "old", with some likening it to animal feed. But analysts also blame Japan's decades-old policy of cutting rice-farming land. The policy was introduced to support prices that were being hit by falling demand brought about by changes in the Japanese diet. Under the 1971 policy, farmers were told to reduce the amount of space used to grow the grain in favour of other crops. That saw the amount of land used for rice paddies -- not including for livestock feed -- plunge below 1.4 million hectares (3.5 million acres) in 2024, from a peak of 3.3 million hectares in 1960. While the policy was officially abolished in 2018, it has continued in a form of incentives pushing farmers towards other commodities like soybeans. Adding to the crisis is Japan's ageing population. Many rice farmers are old and their children have no interest in taking over. Eighty percent of rice farmers are part-time with less than two hectares of fields but they account for only 20 percent of production, said agronomy expert Kazunuki Oizumi, professor emeritus of Miyagi University. Their main revenue comes from other jobs or pensions, he added. - Agriculture 'destroyed' - Toru Wakui, chairman of a large-scale farm in the northern Akita region who has for decades fought against the acreage reduction, said Japan should "seek an increase in rice production and exports to foreign markets". "If you only think about the domestic market while increasing output, of course prices will fall," he told AFP. "We need to look for markets abroad." "The 55 years of acreage reduction destroyed Japan's agriculture," said Wakui, 76, who urged Koizumi in a letter last month to "declare an expansion in rice production". He also said Japan should consider a scheme to help young people start agriculture businesses without the burden of initial investment in fields and machinery, by involving other sectors including banks and trading companies. Public support for Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's government has tumbled to its lowest level since he took office in October, which local media say was partly caused by the surge in inflation and soaring rice costs. He has told parliament that increasing production is "an option" to temper prices, but said food security and the livelihood of producers was also important. For the farmer Yamazaki, "wanting cheap rice with high quality" is a pipe dream. "We farmers are a little baffled by the limelight that suddenly shifted to us," he said. "But I think it's a good opportunity for the public to think about how rice is produced." kh/kaf/dan
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
S. Korean posts misattribute unnamed White House official's remarks on 'Chinese election interference'
"The Guardian, UK: Lee Jae-myung was elected president due to China's election interference," reads part of a Korean-language X post shared on June 7, 2025. The post features screenshots of an analysis The Guardian published on June 4, which looked at the issues facing Lee, from trade to diplomacy (archived link). A paragraph from the article, which was also highlighted and translated into Korean, reads: "Inevitably, though, he will soon have to find a way to engage with Donald Trump's White House, whose initial reaction to Lee's resounding victory over his conservative opponent was to suggest that his bumpy path to power had been smoothed by Chinese interference in the vote." The June 3 polls that elected Lee, triggered by the impeachment of former president Yoon Suk Yeol over his failed martial bid, were clouded by unsubstantiated claims of foreign interference, with South Korea's conservatives accusing Beijing of underhandedly backing progressive candidates. Similar posts were shared elsewhere on X, as well as on Facebook, Threads and South Korea's DC Inside forum. "Even the UK's left-leaning outlet The Guardian discusses Chinese election interference, yet only South Korean leftists remain unaware," read a comment on one of the posts. Another said, "Britain has confirmed Lee Jae-myung was made president by China." The Guardian article, however, does not say China interfered in the June 3 vote. The analysis piece appears to be referring to remarks from an unnamed White House official in response to a request for comment from Reuters and the Yonhap News Agency after the election (archived here and here). The official told the news agencies: "The US-ROK Alliance remains ironclad. While South Korea had a free and fair election, the United States remains concerned and opposed to Chinese interference and influence in democracies around the world." "The official did not elaborate on the reference to alleged Chinese interference or connect it directly to the South Korean election," the Reuters article adds, but notes that US President Donald Trump's right-wing allies have criticised Lee who has "spoken of the need to balance Seoul's relations with China and the United States". The White House official's remarks stood in contrast to the congratulatory statement from US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who also reaffirmed the "ironclad" alliance between the countries (archived link). Rubio's statement made no mention of interference in the election. AFP has previously debunked other misinformation surrounding the 2025 presidential election in South Korea.
