Malaysian Health Ministry denies imposing fine for not using new function on contact tracing app
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on September 10, 2021 at 12:28
- Updated on September 10, 2021 at 12:38
- 2 min read
- By AFP Malaysia
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The claim was posted on Facebook here on September 3, 2021, and it has been shared more than 120 times.
The post's Chinese-language caption states: “Just took office! Then act like a hungry vampire.”
The post shares a photo of Malaysia's newly appointed health minister, Khairy Jamaluddin.
The Chinese-language text superimposed on the image reads: “Be careful: Everyone should scan when entering a store from September 5
"Latest news! MySejahtera will launch a new function where people will not only have to scan the QR code before entering a store, but also have to click Check-Out when they leave in order to easily track the contact!
"Should Check out when leaving too
RM 1.500 fine if you don't Check out
"Khairy: MySejahtera needs Check-Out apart from scanning when entering a shop."
The claim was also shared on Facebook here and here in Chinese, and here in Malaysian.
MySejahtera is the Malaysian government's official application with functions that include tracing close contacts of Covid-19 infections, showing results of the user's Covid-19 tests and keeping their vaccination records.
It was recently updated with new features, such as the check-out function, as announced by the Malaysian Ministry of Health (KKM) here on September 4, 2021, and by Khairy here on September 2, 2021.
However, the claim is false.
No such fine
The Malaysian Ministry of Health denies the claim about the fine in this Facebook post on September 3, 2021.
The post's caption states: “The viral graphics in this Whatsapp is not true. There is no fine of RM1500 if you do not 'check out' in MySejahtera as stated in the graphic.”
The Malaysian Ministry of Communications and Multimedia also tweeted KKM's denial on September 4, 2021.
Health minister's photo
A reverse image search found Khairy's photo was published by national news agency Bernama on August 7, 2021, when he was still the coordinating minister for the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme.
Khairy was sworn in as Malaysia's health minister on August 30, 2021.
Below is a screenshot comparison of the image in the misleading post (L) and the Bernama photo (R):
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