This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on October 20, 2025 - October 26, 2025

NexG Bhd (KL:NEXG), formerly known as Datasonic Group Bhd, seems to be a big winner of government projects of late.

In the past two months, the company has bagged four major public contracts worth more than RM2.5 billion, with the biggest being the RM1.73 billion contract from the Ministry of Home Affairs to supply passports until May 2032.

Ironically, the new contracts did not stop board members from leaving. Four directors, including the former executive deputy chairman, stepped down last week.

In particular, the departure of two independent directors, namely Datuk Seri Mohd Sopiyan Mohd Rashdi and Datuk Zainal Abidin Abu Hassan at the same time has raised eyebrows. The concern is valid given independent directors’ crucial role in upholding corporate governance standards.

The duo were then replaced by Mohamed Fairuz Mohamed Fauzy and Badrul Hisham Abdul Aziz, according to NexG’s Bursa filings last Thursday. This is in addition to the appointments of Syed Farid Syed Ahmad Al-Attas and Mohd Zafil Ibrahim as non-independent non-executive directors.

Apart from the two independent directors, executive deputy chairman Tan Sri Mohd Khairul Adib Abd Rahman and executive director Datuk Puvanesan Subenthiran also resigned from the board last week. NexG is currently helmed by chairman and CEO Datuk Hanifah Noordin.

Returning to the recent contract wins, many may wonder what is the secret behind its consistent success in securing government jobs? Did NexG secure the jobs via open tender?

One may recall that two years ago, the then-Datasonic clarified it had secured most of the contracts through open tender, except for one which was a job it had proposed to the previous government. It stressed that the government managed to enjoy savings as well as superior product and service quality.

One may argue that open tender might not be suitable for some public contracts as it may result in a race to the bottom, making the projects not commercially viable. That said, the government should always uphold high transparency in public job awards.

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