Cameron @ SoundsDebatable.com
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@SoundsDebatable
Podcast Producer & Strategist to 100+ Podcasts & Counting https://t.co/w9yh7x44wx Curating Podcast Excellence at https://t.co/q8X8J89VXk
Should the global tech community continue investing in Malaysia? Given recent events, I raise this question respectfully for the consideration of Prime Minister Yang Amat Berhormat Dato’ Seri Anwar bin Ibrahim (@anwaribrahim), for the people of Malaysia, and for our friends in the Malaysian tech community. The answer will be of interest to anyone in global tech that’s considering building, investing, or expanding in Malaysia, including executives at Google, Amazon, Apple, and Microsoft, founders of tech unicorns like Coinbase and Solana, and investors at the world’s largest venture capital funds like a16z and Polychain. As context, I am the former CTO of Coinbase and former General Partner at a16z. In October 2024, I opened a startup society called Network School in Malaysia, because I felt I’d been invited in by the government’s pro-tech policies. Specifically, the KL20 initiative set out Malaysia’s ambition of becoming a top 20 global tech hub. Their MDEC digital nomad visas and MM2H investor visas were created to facilitate an influx of global talent and capital. And the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone was announced to facilitate the flow of capital and talent between Malaysia and Singapore, where I live. When taken in combination with Malaysia’s datacenter buildout and its policy of welcoming visa-free visits for 98% of the world, it seemed like Malaysia might be a great place to build a global tech hub that was simultaneously inexpensive and easy to visit (especially for non-Westerners). And that’s what we did, by creating Network School. It’s an international tech community with its first node in Forest City, Malaysia. We picked Forest City because it had millions of square feet of empty space, because it was one hour from Singapore’s capital markets, and because it was within the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone. Then, within 18 months, without a single penny of government money, we built Network School into a global attraction that brought thousands of engineers, investors, and builders from 70+ countries to learn technology, burn calories, earn online, and have fun, integrating with the local Malaysian economy along the way. Indeed, in terms of quantifiable contribution to the Malaysian economy, we’ve already invested 100M+ MYR in our campus to make it startup-friendly. For perspective, that’s about 4% of the budget of Johor, the Malaysian state where Forest City is located. We employ dozens of Malaysians directly and indirectly at every level from executive to staff. We’ve backed Malaysian tech startups like Collektr, hosted events for local teams like Superteam Malaysia, and are major customers of many local businesses like barbers, laundromats, and restaurants. We’ve also revitalized the multibillion-dollar Forest City project, causing millions of MYR in real estate appreciation. And, as the video below describes, we were on the cusp of a 500M+ MYR expansion to grow our community, as well as a global merit scholarship with my friend Amjad Masad of Replit. However, that emerging multi-billion dollar success story — which should rightfully have been hailed as a huge victory for the pro-tech policies of the Malaysian government — is at risk of being derailed by a fake story spread by an anonymous account named MP4P. In short: on the day before the July 11 Johor elections, MP4P posted an Instagram post falsely accusing Network School of harboring illegal aliens. The sensational accusations caused a tizzy in Malaysia, until Malaysian authorities came to our campus on July 14 to investigate. (I should note that the officers were very polite and professional.) After checking hundreds of physical passports from 40 countries, including dual passport holders, the authorities confirmed to the press on July 15 that all travel documents were in order. During the process, we cooperated fully; in the thread below you can see a photo of the men, women, and children of Network School smiling and holding up their passports in the bright daylight. Our faces are shown and our names are known; we have nothing to hide. With that said, the process is the punishment. What MP4P did is very similar to the American crime of “swatting”, because MP4P created a hoax report of a serious threat, thereby forcing the Malaysian police to take time away from protecting the Malaysian people towards investigating a nonexistent issue. Moreover, this anonymous MP4P account has also called for Malaysia to boycott Apple, Google, Amazon, and Microsoft…a move that would cost ordinary Malaysians thousands of jobs…even while MP4P’s own Instagram collaborators promote their Apple and Google apps! I mean, we aren’t talking about a credible accuser, but just someone screaming inconsistently at the top of their lungs on social media for traffic, an all-too-common phenomenon these days. Anyway, at this point, all further investment we were planning to make in Malaysia is on hold until we get sufficient assurance that such issues won’t recur. So are the investment plans of many of our friends, including the execs and investors at global tech firms that we brought to Forest City. Because to put it very plainly: we have invested 100M+ MYR in Malaysia, while creating jobs for dozens of Malaysians, and our faces and names are known. Our Malaysian executives and employees deserve the benefit of the doubt over anonymous internet trolls. There are two paths forward. In the first case, if Malaysia still wants continued global tech investment, if it wants to be a top 20 tech hub, if it wants us to revitalize Forest City, then we request an audience with the Prime Minister’s office to discuss the terms of a memorandum of understanding between Network School and the Malaysian government, similar to the document recently signed between the Solana Foundation and the Kazakhstan government. Specifics can of course be discussed, but we would publicly commit to abiding by all Malaysian laws (we already do) and respecting Malaysia’s sovereignty (never in question). In return, they’d get to know our friendly community, and realize that we actually chose Malaysia because we thought it was a great place to build a tech hub where engineers from the global South, investors from the West, and builders from Malaysia itself could meet new people, build cool things, and perhaps create millions of dollars in economic growth in the fullness of time. That vision of peace and trade, internationalism and entrepreneurialism, is still on the table. We aren’t asking for any money — just a meeting, to help restore confidence in Malaysia as an investable jurisdiction. Alternatively, if you don’t want our investment, or those of our colleagues at billion dollar funds and trillion dollar companies, we will of course respect your wishes, and reallocate our capital to other countries instead. Either way, we will remain friends and abide by your decision. Please let us know.
Ironically, this whole drama with Balaji literally validated the network state thesis. The whole idea of a network state is taking a dense group of talent and capital, and collectively negotiating with states. The Malaysia drama set up Balaji to negotiate better terms with another state to copy and paste the network there. This now looks like a much more stable setup. Guess I'll be visiting Kazakhstan!
I am pleased to announce that a memorandum of understanding has been signed between the Republic of Kazakhstan and Network School. Our new campus will become a haven for global techno-optimism, with expedited visas, streamlined redomiciliation, and active recruitment of talent.
Ironically, this whole drama with Balaji literally validated the network state thesis. The whole idea of a network state is taking a dense group of talent and capital, and collectively negotiating with states. The Malaysia drama set up Balaji to negotiate better terms with another state to copy and paste the network there. This now looks like a much more stable setup. Guess I'll be visiting Kazakhstan!
BREAKING NEWS 🚨 NETWORK SCHOOL (@ns) ORDERED TO CEASE OPERATIONS The Johor Iskandar Puteri City Council has ordered enforcement against : "NSO Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. (Network School) at Forest City" Business licence cancelled, cease-business notice issued. Effective 22 July 2026. Confirmed by the Chief Minister of Johor My breakdown, in a thread🧵👇🏼
KENYATAAN MEDIA PEMBATALAN LESEN PERNIAGAAN DAN ARAHAN PENGHENTIAN OPERASI NS0 MALAYSIA SDN. BHD. (NETWORK SCHOOL) DI FOREST CITY 1. Kerajaan Negeri Johor mengambil maklum dan menyokong sepenuhnya keputusan Mesyuarat Penuh Khas Majlis Bandaraya Iskandar Puteri (MBIP) untuk membatalkan lesen perniagaan serta mengarahkan semua aktiviti NS0 Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. (Network School) di Forest City dihentikan, berkuat kuasa pada 22 Julai 2026. 2. Keputusan tersebut dibuat berdasarkan proses dan peruntukan undang-undang yang berkuat kuasa, selepas penelitian terhadap laporan pemeriksaan, dapatan penguatkuasaan serta representasi yang dikemukakan oleh pihak syarikat. 3. Untuk makluman, tindakan penguatkuasaan hanya boleh diambil selepas aduan serta maklumat disahkan, pemeriksaan dijalankan, ketidakpatuhan dikenal pasti dan proses undang-undang disempurnakan. Tempoh sesuatu premis beroperasi tidak bermakna semua aktivitinya sentiasa mematuhi syarat lesen. Apabila ketidakpatuhan dikenal pasti, tindakan mesti diambil tanpa kompromi. Kerajaan Negeri akan terus memperketat penyelarasan antara agensi agar sebarang ketidakpatuhan dapat dikesan dan ditangani segera. 4. Kerajaan Negeri ingin menegaskan bahawa Johor sentiasa mengalu-alukan pelaburan berkualiti tinggi yang memberi manfaat kepada ekonomi, mewujudkan peluang pekerjaan dan memacu pembangunan negeri. Namun begitu, tiada mana-mana pelabur, syarikat atau organisasi boleh diletakkan mengatasi kedaulatan undang-undang negara. 5. Dalam ruang lingkup bidang kuasa yang diperuntukkan, Kerajaan Negeri dan Pihak Berkuasa Tempatan tidak akan berkompromi terhadap sebarang pelanggaran undang-undang atau perkara yang boleh menjejaskan keselamatan, kedaulatan dan kepentingan negara. 6. Sehubungan itu, Kerajaan Negeri menggesa Kementerian Dalam Negeri (KDN), Jabatan Imigresen Malaysia (JIM), Polis Diraja Malaysia (PDRM) serta agensi keselamatan berkaitan meneruskan siasatan dan mengambil tindakan tegas sekiranya terdapat penyalahgunaan pasport kedua, salah nyata identiti, pelanggaran syarat kemasukan atau apa-apa kesalahan di bawah undang-undang Malaysia. 7. Perkara ini tidak boleh dipandang ringan, lebih-lebih lagi apabila Johor merupakan pintu masuk strategik negara yang bersempadan dengan Singapura. Sebarang kelemahan atau penyalahgunaan sistem imigresen mesti ditangani segera, tegas dan tanpa kompromi. 8. Pada masa yang sama, Kerajaan Negeri menggesa Kementerian Digital dan Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) mengambil tindakan sewajarnya terhadap status Malaysia Digital atau sebarang pengiktirafan yang telah diberikan kepada organisasi berkenaan sekiranya terdapat ketidakpatuhan terhadap syarat atau prinsip yang ditetapkan. 9. Kerajaan Negeri turut menggesa semua agensi berkaitan memperketat proses “due diligence”, termasuk semakan latar belakang, pemilikan, sumber pembiayaan, bentuk operasi serta naratif yang dibawa oleh mana-mana syarikat atau organisasi. 10. Penyelarasan antara agensi juga perlu diperkukuh agar setiap pelaburan atau inisiatif antarabangsa diteliti secara menyeluruh dari aspek pelesenan, imigresen, keselamatan, penggunaan premis dan pematuhan undang-undang. Kerajaan Negeri akan terus bekerjasama dengan semua pihak bagi memastikan Johor kekal sebagai destinasi pelaburan yang diyakini, tanpa berkompromi terhadap keselamatan, kedaulatan dan undang-undang negara. 11. Semua perkara diatas telah disembah maklum serta perkenan kepada Kebawah Duli Yang Maha Mulia Seri Paduka Baginda Yang di-Pertuan Agong serta Duli Yang Amat Mulia Tunku Mahkota Ismail, Pemangku Sultan Johor. Sekian. ONN HAFIZ GHAZI Menteri Besar Johor 21 Julai 2026
