Ytl Pledges To Probe Smartphone Catching Fire

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YTL Communications has pledged to investigate the reported incident of a YES smartphone which caught fire when a nine-year-old kid used the mobile device for an online class yesterday morning.
In a statement today, YTL Communications chief executive officer Wing K Lee said the company took the reported incident very seriously.
He, however, stressed that there were no other reports of safety incidents related to the phone, which was jointly developed by YES and China Mobile, the world’s largest network operator for educational use.
“China Mobile has confirmed that the same battery used in this phone has been in production since 2018 and more than 4.5 million units have been shipped globally without any reported incident of this nature.
“However, we take this reported incident very seriously as the safety of our products and users is of paramount importance and we will investigate the matter fully,” he said.
Kindergarten teacher Suryani Abd Ghani told Malaysiakini that she witnessed a subsidised phone provided to her nine-year-old nephew under the Jaringan Prihatin initiative catching fire during an online class.
No one was injured but they were rattled by the dangerous incident.
The government has partnered with telecommunications companies to roll out the RM3.5 billion Jaringan Prihatin programme which aims to help low-income households obtain devices and Internet access for home-based teaching and learning (PdPR).
YTL Communications’ YES is one of the participating telecommunications companies under this programme. YTL Foundation also undertakes a “Learn from Home” programme targeting B40 families that need devices.
Under Jaringan Prihatin, eligible recipients can opt for a mobile device, which will be subsidised by the government for RM300, or opt for a data plan with an RM180 rebate over 12 months.
Recipients can also top-up money if they want a device valued above RM300. The purchase is done through their respective telecommunication service.
Elaborating further, Lee said YTL Communications contacted Suryani in order to carry out an investigation into the incident.
“We contacted Suryani .. who told us the phone is not hers and we should contact her brother who is the recipient of the phone.
“We have, at the time of this statement, been unable to contact him nor received any further communication from Suryani or her brother. We are continuing in our efforts to contact the customer,” he said.
“Since the launch of the Jaringan Prihatin programme, we have received overwhelming applications for our YES Prihatin plans,” said Lee.
He also clarified the phones being given under the Perak government’s Tuisyen Cikgu Saarani Initiative was a separate programme supported by YTL Foundation and has no connection with the Jaringan Prihatin programme or the YES Prihatin device plans offered by YES.
“This programme which was launched by the Perak government in April is a collaboration under YTL Foundation’s Learn From Home Initiative under which the phones and data plans are fully sponsored and funded by the foundation,” added Lee.
The state government’s programme courted controversy after Perak executive councillor (education, higher education and human resources) Ahmad Saidi Mohamad Said said that the phones’ low specifications would serve as a deterrent against students misusing them to “play (video) games”.
Opposition MPs Steven Sim and Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman have criticised the Perak government for not providing better quality devices to needy students.
Perak Menteri Besar Saarani Mohamad, however, defended the move and said the charity should be accepted without question instead of “asking for chicken when being given sardine”. - Mkini

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