Rais said the resignations were on different dates and for various reasons. “No, I don’t think (there’s an) en bloc resignation as (they are on) different dates, (for different) reasons.

“There are people who have resigned but not 16,” he told FMT, after a series of tweets claiming that 16 executives had resigned en bloc from MDEC.

Raid said it was normal for staff to resign at the end of the year, or beginning of the year as they look for new opportunities.

He was responding to the tweets by Ahirudin Attan, who runs the blog Rocky’s Bru. Ahiruddin had asked Rais: “Is it true 16 senior execs from MDEC have tendered their resignation en bloc?”.

Rais, who was appointed to the post in June last year, said one senior executive was joining the regional office of Sony. “Others change career paths and so on.”

Rais added in any organisation there are challenges and “things we need to change and improve. There is no crisis.”

He said that when change is pushed, staff may either embrace the change, adjust or disagree by moving on.

“When people move on, others join, MDEC continues,” he said, adding that there are a lot of talents gravitating towards them.

In Nov 2020, MDEC in a press release said it was undertaking major restructuring.

The press release had said that in these unprecedented times, accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic, change was inevitable.

“Recognising that digital transformation and adoption is crucial to capitalise on new opportunities, it announced several new strategic areas driven by a newly set-up MDEC Operating Council.

The areas include strategy, transformation, artificial intelligence, adoption, investment and skills.