An Instagram user has accused the government of using his company’s designs for the Malaysian pavilion at the Osaka World Expo in Japan without payment or credit.
The user, “Feythehuman”, claimed that his company was engaged by the investment, trade and industry ministry in 2022 to develop the concept, theme, and architectural direction for the Malaysian pavilion.
He said a proposal was presented to key stakeholders, including the minister, Tengku Zafrul Aziz, and the company was later repeatedly assured that it would be formally appointed for the project.
However, it was told in January 2023 that the appointment would not proceed and that the ministry wanted to open a tender, he wrote in his post.
FMT has sought a response from an aide to Tengku Zafrul and from the investment, trade and industry ministry.
The Instagram user said the current concept, theme, narrative and architectural direction being used for the pavilion “are the ones we developed” and was appropriated without acknowledgement or compensation.
He claimed that his company was given the runaround in the past two years when it tried to get its work acknowledged and fairly compensated.
He also said his company was advised to stay silent over the alleged appropriation to not jeopardise future opportunities. “But what’s the point of future work if it’s built on silence, exploitation, and fear?” he said.
“We shouldn’t have to beg to be paid for work that was done, used, and publicly presented. Payment isn’t a favour, it’s the bare minimum,” he said. “The fact that we even have to fight for it speaks volumes about how little respect they have for the people who actually do the work.”
