M'sia is developing its own contact tracing token, similar to S'pore's TraceTogether

The system is "similar to that in Singapore," said Malaysia's health minister.

Faris Alfiq | September 29, 2021, 11:06 AM

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Malaysia is currently developing a "token" that can be used to "check-in" at premises for the purpose of contact tracing, according to Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin on Sep. 23.

He said the system "is similar to that in Singapore", referring to Singapore's TraceTogether token, The Star reported.

"The token will use a 'Bluetooth proximity technology'," he added, similar to the technology used in Singapore that has been distributed to most of its citizens since September 2020.

Khairy was responding to a question by a member of parliament, Vivian Wong, who asked whether the government has plans to tackle difficulties faced by the vulnerable groups who do not possess smartphones for contact tracing.

This is not the first time Khairy has drawn a comparison to Singapore to describe Malaysia's fight against Covid-19.

The former Science Minister previously claimed, without evidence, that Singapore paid "premium prices" to receive vaccines ahead of Malaysia.

Singapore made various advance purchase agreements and down payments for promising vaccine candidates in the early days of the pandemic.

Free for vulnerable groups

Currently, Malaysia is using MySejahtera as a form of contact tracing technology by scanning QR codes using smartphones before entering any premises.

The Star quoted Khairy saying: "The Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry is currently developing a token system that we can distribute to the elderly who do not own smartphones."

"They can still manually jot down (their contact details) in a log and bring along their physical vaccination card around," Khairy added.

Malay language news outlet Sinar Harian added that the token will be distributed for free to the vulnerable groups, namely those in the bottom 40 per cent and the elderly.

He did not give an expected date when the system will be rolled out.

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Top images via Khairy Jamaluddin/Facebook and Vivian Balakrishnan/Facebook