TAN Sri Abang Johari Abang Openg said the central database hub (PADU) should not collect excessive information that is unrelated to one’s financial status.
The Borneo Post reported the Sarawak premier as saying that the people of Sarawak were raising questions about the necessity of providing extensive personal information when registering for PADU.
“If extensive information is disclosed without relevance to financial matters … we see no justification for acquiring such in-depth details,” he was quoted as saying.
Abang Johari further noted that there should be limits imposed under the Personal Data Protection Act to safeguard personal information, ensuring alignment with constitutional provisions protecting freedom and liberty.
“You have the right not to disclose personal details. But if it is related to income and also the economic situation, of course, the data is more relevant,” he said.
Abang Johari’s comments on the matter came following reports that Sarawak’s top state government officials in Sri Aman and Sibu were told not to register citizens information with PADU until further notice.
Sri Aman division resident Abang Porkan Abang Budiman gave the order in a circular addressed to district and administrative officers there, Borneo Post reported.
Administrators were urged to relay the message to the community leaders and members of village security and development committees under their charge.
On Tuesday, Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli said his officials would hold a meeting with the Sarawak government next week to discuss issues related to the PADU registration exercise.
However, Abang Johari said he has not received detailed information about the meeting, except for state secretary Amar Abu Bakar Marzuki confirming Rafizi’s visit to Sarawak for the matter.
“It depends on when the delegation from the economy ministry will come because, of course, Rafizi wants to know more on why we asked for PADU to be postponed,” he said.
“We also want to get other information (about this PADU system), especially regarding privacy.”
“Stripped naked”
Abang Johari’s concern about the database was previously shared by a senior Sarawak government official who said that demanding certain data from citizens is tantamount to “stripping them naked”.
On March 22, Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah was reported as saying there were concerns about data privacy, The Borneo Post reported.
“The moment you fill in, you bogelkan diri sendiri (strip yourself naked). Practically everything – your bank account, your house, everything!,” the state tourism minister was quoted as saying.
“I don’t think that is a proper way to treat your citizens. If PADU is meant to help the poor, let them fill it in in, those receiving government aid can fill that in; but you don’t go across the board and say everybody must fill it in,” he added.
Karim said the Sarawak government had asked for a change in PADU’s registration exercise in the state.
He said he personally believed the government could have used existing data hubs such as e-Kasih, which was launched in 2007 to help the government plan various poverty alleviation programmes.
“Back then we had e-Kasih to search for those who are poor, why do we need PADU? It is more or less the same. Just that in PADU, if you don’t fill it in, the aid recipients may miss out,” the Sarawak daily quoted him.
He had also wondered if there was a hidden agenda behind the introduction of the central database.
“Is it because you want to help the poor, or is it because you want to know how many people (are there) in a village? That’s the role of the Statistics Department,” he said. – March 28, 2024
Main pic credit: The Star
