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KUALA LUMPUR \u2013 A Malaysian crypto investor is weighing a plan to revive the\u00a0tech campus left vacant by the abrupt collapse of Balaji Srinivasan\u2019s Network School,<\/span><\/a> potentially giving a second life to an experiment that drew hundreds of entrepreneurs to the country.<\/p>\n Jeff Yew, a Malaysian motorsport enthusiast who previously headed Binance Australia, is considering establishing his own tech campus at Forest City, the US$100 billion (S$128 billion) development in southern Malaysia.<\/p>\n His vision would take a different tack from Srinivasan\u2019s, with a \u201cMalaysia first\u201d approach.<\/p>\n Yew may offer a lifeline not just to the empty campus but also to Forest City\u00a0\u2013 a man-made island that has\u00a0struggled to live up to its billing as a futuristic new metropolis \u2013 and to Malaysia\u2019s broader ambitions to build a technology economy beyond data centres.<\/p>\n For almost two years, school leavers, graduates, professionals and young families enrolled in Srinivasan\u2019s Network School, which offered a curriculum blending practical skills with an ideological vision of how technology and society might evolve.<\/p>\n Srinivasan, a prominent crypto investor and former Coinbase chief technology officer, chose Forest City as his testing ground, though he frequently referred to the location simply as being \u201cnear Singapore\u201d.<\/p>\n The Malaysian authorities ordered the school to close in July after a public falling out between the two sides, forcing the students to leave the country.<\/p>\n Yew\u00a0now heads Monochrome Asset Management, an Australian-listed Bitcoin exchange-traded fund that has about A$128 million (S$115.8 million) in assets.<\/p>\n His\u00a0matt-blue Lamborghini Huracan Sterrato carries a \u201cBitcoin\u201d number plate.<\/p>\n His proposed campus would put a distinctly Malaysian stamp on the idea.<\/p>\n It could potentially turn\u00a0a site associated with one crypto experiment into a base for a new generation of technology entrepreneurs, but the plans are far from settled.<\/p>\n Days after the eviction, Yew offered to take over the project in a social media post, and told Bloomberg News that he has entered preliminary discussions with Srinivasan and his team.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s about a balance of attracting talent overseas and also nurturing local entrepreneurs,\u201d Yew said in an interview, while floating the possibility of local scholarship programmes.<\/p>\n The goal is to make the state of Johor \u201ca digital hub\u201d for global artificial intelligence, blockchain and computer science.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n For the plan to work, Yew\u00a0said it\u00a0would need to be built around Malaysia\u2019s interests, including a commitment to respecting the local authorities.<\/p>\n Network School at first aligned neatly with Malaysia\u2019s ambitions to attract tech talent from afar, complementing a boom in data centre and AI\u00a0investments.<\/p>\n Students came to \u201clock in\u201d on building their start-ups with like-minded people and\u00a0shared workouts and\u00a0protein shakes,\u00a0as well as Srinivasan\u2019s belief in a new kind of society.<\/p>\n But the school came under scrutiny after allegations that Israeli students were living and studying on its campus, in breach of Malaysian immigration rules.\u00a0<\/p>\n It blew up into a local backlash that prompted the authorities to raid the campus and check the passports of all students.<\/p>\n Although immigration officials found that everyone at the school had \u201cvalid travel documents\u201d, the damage had been done.\u00a0<\/p>\n A widened probe uncovered two violations of local licensing laws and led to an eviction notice.<\/p>\n For Forest City,\u00a0beleaguered by sluggish sales and the financial distress of its Chinese developer Country Garden, the school was a rare bright spot.\u00a0<\/p>\n In a bid to help revive it,\u00a0the Malaysian government\u00a0designated the city\u00a0a special financial zone with a specific focus on attracting family offices.<\/p>\n It has\u00a0secured assets under management of about RM670 million (S$209.4 million) from various family offices, although the number is far below its overall target of RM2 billion by the end of 2026.<\/p>\n In July, shortly after the school shuttered, police arrested 335 people who were allegedly operating online scam syndicates out of Forest City, further dimming the prospects of a meaningful revival.<\/p>\n Malaysia\u2019s case for investors is unlikely, however, to be dimmed by the experimental Network School exit.\u00a0<\/p>\n Malaysia has long held ambitions to move up the technology value chain\u00a0and is stepping up efforts to build a higher-value technology economy, with the government targeting an inclusive and sustainable \u201cAI nation\u201d by 2030.<\/p>\n The country is seeking to move beyond its traditional strengths in semiconductor assembly, testing and packaging by developing front-end chip design capabilities\u00a0while expanding digital and data infrastructure, building skilled talent and attracting investment in areas such as\u00a0AI and advanced semiconductor manufacturing.<\/p>\n It is\u00a0also seeking to draw more tech\u00a0talent to the country via a special economic zone being developed with Singapore in Johor.<\/p>\n Adib Zalkapli, founder of Viewfinder Global Affairs, a geopolitical risk consultancy in Kuala Lumpur, agrees that the country\u2019s tech future can still be bright.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe case will be remembered, if at all, as a footnote in Malaysia\u2019s tech investment history,\u201d he said. \u201cIt will not affect how other technology companies view Malaysia.\u201d BLOOMBERG<\/p>\n<\/div>\n KUALA LUMPUR \u2013 A Malaysian crypto investor is weighing a plan to revive the\u00a0tech campus left vacant by the abrupt collapse of Balaji Srinivasan\u2019s 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