By Karen Bong
KUCHING, March 22: Registering for Padu, the national Central Database Hub, is “stripping oneself completely naked” as all personal information, including bank accounts and properties, must be disclosed.
Minister of Tourism, Creative Industry, and Performing Arts Sarawak Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah emphasised this in expressing his personal view against registering oneself on Padu at this point, not until a review has been done to refine the requirements to address the concerns and demands of the Sarawak government.
While expressing concerns over privacy and security issues, he also questioned the real intention behind Padu, suggesting that the data is at risk of being exploited for political reasons.
“The moment you register for Padu and fill in the details, you ‘bogelkan diri sendiri’ (stripping yourself naked). Do you know that? Practically everything (information) about you, including bank accounts and house (properties), are being ‘telanjangkan’ (bare naked completely). Would you want to do that?
“I don’t think that is a proper way to treat the citizens,” he said during a press conference after launching the Rainforest World Music Festival (RWMF) 2024 at a hotel here today.
Abdul Karim pointed out that the Sarawak government also has some reservations about Padu, as the matter was discussed in a recent Cabinet meeting.
Deputy Minister of Law, MA63, and State-Federal Relations Datuk Sharifah Hasidah Sayeed Aman Ghazali has been tasked with looking into this with the Sarawak government requesting review and clarification to meet the State’s needs.
“However, it is not that we are unsupportive unless there is a good intention and purpose. If there is an ulterior motive in creating Padu, then we will not be happy about it,” he asserted.
Furthermore, DayakDaily also spotted a circular dated March 21, 2024, allegedly issued by the Sri Aman Resident Office advising Padu registration to be halted, effective immediately, within its division until further notice. The official memo was also forwarded to the attention of community leaders, village chiefs, and Village Security and Development Committees (JKKKs).
Personally, Abdul Karim views Padu as a system that exists and is similar to that of e-kasih. As such, he does not see a need for a new system that could create numerous problems and demand too much personal information.
If Padu intends to help the poor and vulnerable, he said the federal government should focus on people classified as low-income or welfare recipients rather than mandating registration for every citizen.
“Later, the data could be used for political reasons, such as elections. That is how I personally see it.
“If it is intended for delivering aid and assistance to people, there are other ways to source it (data).
“Moreover, every citizen has the right to certain privacy, and you don’t need to expose every juicy thing about yourself. With Padu, your personal details are exposed completely… or is it going to be used to let LHDN (Income Revenue Board) chase after people?”
Urging the federal government to be sincere in implementing Padu, Abdul Karim stressed that it is also not right to promote the registration, indicating that those who did not register would miss out on aid and assistance.
He stressed that Padu registration should not be rushed but thoroughly examined to determine its genuine necessity, whether to aid the poor or collect population data in villages, which is a role already fulfilled by the Statistics Department.
“Slow down, lah. They should go to opposition states, such as under PAS governance, to see if they can be successful in the registration. If they succeed, they can come back and see us. I know they are having difficulties in getting the people to register,” he said. — DayakDaily
