Network School Postpones New Investments In Malaysia, Founder Seeks Government Assurance

PUTRAJAYA: Network School founder, Balaji Srinivasan has announced that all his company’s new investment plans in Malaysia have been postponed until he receives assurances following the controversy that erupted after an anonymous social media account accused the company of harbouring undocumented migrants.

Describing the allegations as baseless, Balaji, via a post on the X platform, said several investor friends and international technology company executives he had brought to Forest City, Johor, have now taken a similar approach by postponing their respective investment plans.

According to him, the decision was made until they obtain assurances that such an incident will not recur and will no longer undermine foreign investor confidence in Malaysia.

“On the day before the Johor State Election on July 11, an anonymous social media account (MP4P) uploaded a post on Instagram falsely accusing Network School of harbouring undocumented migrants.

“That sensational accusation sparked a commotion in Malaysia, leading authorities to visit our campus on July 14 to conduct an investigation,” he said.

According to him, after inspecting hundreds of physical passports belonging to individuals from 40 countries, including dual citizenship holders, authorities confirmed to the media on July 15 that all travel documents were valid.

“Throughout the process, we gave our full cooperation. You can see pictures of men, women and children at Network School smiling while holding their passports in broad daylight. Our faces are clear and our identities are publicly known. We have nothing to hide,” Balaji explained.

He opined that the investigation process conducted by the Malaysian authorities itself had impacted the company’s reputation and investor confidence, even though the allegations were ultimately unproven.

“In such circumstances, the process itself becomes a form of punishment. What MP4P did is very similar to a crime known in the United States as ‘swatting’, which is making false reports about serious threats that force police to waste time investigating something that does not actually exist, thereby diverting attention from their duty to protect the public,” he said.

Previously, allegations went viral claiming that there were Israeli nationals participating in a programme known as Network School in Forest City, Iskandar Puteri, Johor.

This drew the attention of Johor Menteri Besar, Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi, who ordered an investigation into allegations that Israeli nationals, who are prohibited from entering Malaysia, were part of the Network School community and were allegedly entering the country using second passports.

Subsequently, the Malaysian Immigration Department conducted inspections on 266 foreign nationals from 40 countries and found that all individuals examined possessed valid immigration documents based on current records.

In the same post, Balaji informed that Network School had invested more than RM100 million to develop a start-up-friendly campus in Forest City without receiving any funds from the Malaysian government.

According to him, the investment not only created employment opportunities for locals, but also helped Malaysian start-ups, supported local businesses and contributed to efforts to revitalise the Forest City development.

“The fact is, we have invested more than RM100 million in Malaysia, created jobs for dozens of Malaysians, and our identities are publicly known. Our executives and staff in Malaysia should have been given the benefit of the doubt over allegations from an anonymous social media account,” he said.

Accordingly, Balaji has requested a meeting with Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, to discuss the possibility of entering into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Network School and the Malaysian government.

He explained that the memorandum aims to strengthen cooperation between both parties and restore global technology community confidence in Malaysia as an investment destination.

“The details can be discussed later, but we will openly pledge to continue complying with all Malaysian laws as we are currently doing, as well as respecting Malaysia’s sovereignty, which we have never questioned.

“In return, the government will have the opportunity to get to know our community more closely and understand that we chose Malaysia because we believe this country is the best place to build a technology hub that brings together engineers from developing countries, investors from the West, and local Malaysian entrepreneurs to create innovation and generate millions of dollars in economic growth in the future.

“We are not asking for any funds. All we want is a meeting to help restore confidence that Malaysia remains a trusted investment destination.

“Conversely, if Malaysia no longer wants our investment or the investments of our partners from billion-dollar funds and trillion-dollar companies, we will respect that decision and redirect our capital to other countries,” he said.

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