Crowdfunding in Malaysia: revisiting Tabung Harapan Malaysia

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Abstract

The twist of political panorama in Malaysia raised the eyebrows of many and clutched the attention of foreign legal analysts too. The National Front (‘Barisan Nasional’) party which was in command for 61 years, was flounced off its feet by Hope Coalition (‘Pakatan Harapan’), a young loosely formed coalition party at the 14th General Election, held on 9th May 2018. The objective of Pakatan Harapan
was to restore the economic triumph of the country to its rightful place. The objective was also to assuage the economic affliction of the public at large, due to the escalating cost of goods and services. Pakatan Harapan announced that the national debt hit RM1 trillion. In view of this, Pakatan Harapan set up the National Hope Fund (Tabung Harapan Malaysia), which was an idea mooted by a member of the public. Pakatan Harapan conceptualized the brainwave and opened a bank account to facilitate the receiving of donations from the public with the aspiration of resuscitating the national debt crisis. Various quarters of the public aired their views and opinions on the correctness and legality of the matter. Some opined that it was a patriotic act since the country was in financial distress. This article attempts to study the legal issues in relation to crowdfunding. The article also attempts to unearth whether crowdfunding is permitted from a legal point of view. The article then proceeds to explore the legal implications of setting up crowdfunding. This is crucial since as of 14th January 2020, the amount in the fund was RM205,491,219. There were clarion calls that civil servants should contribute on a voluntary basis. The airline industry promised to contribute a certain amount, out of every sale made. Many corporate organisations came forward as part of their corporate social responsibility to raise funds. Be that as it may, several pertinent issues remain unanswered. Thus, this study attempts to address the above issues in order to derive valid conclusions on the legality of the crowdfunding.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)126-135
Number of pages10
JournalMalayan Law Journal
Volume3
Publication statusPublished - 1 Oct 2022

Keywords

  • Crowdfunding
  • Laws

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