KUALA LUMPUR: The government should do something to address the public's lack of confidence towards the Central Database Hub (Padu) system, says Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong.

The MCA president said the low registration rate was an obvious sign and strong proof of the people’s lack of trust in the system.

"The government, especially the Economy Minister, must look into this seriously.

"There is no use in threatening the people (to say) that 'those who don't register or update their personal information on Padu won't get the government's help" and "don't blame the government if they are being missed out'," he said in a post on Facebook on Sunday (March 24).

The Ayer Hitam MP said threatening the people was not a sincere way to help those in need.

In view of a whooping allocation of RM80mil for the setting up of the system, he asked if the existing e-kasih system could be upgraded to serve the same purpose as Padu.

The e-kasih system is a national poverty databank aimed at providing aid to the underprivileged community. It consists of information about those registered such as incomes, educational levels, occupations, assets and health conditions.

"My concerns from the very beginning were also shared by fellow MPs, both from the government and the Opposition blocs.

"For the record, I explained the drawbacks and imperfection of the Padu system to the Prime Minister in a meeting, which both the Deputy Prime Minister and the Sarawak Premier also attended, on Jan 22," he added.

He also expressed dissatisfaction over Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli's answer, "Actually we already have the data" when asked in Parliament on March 5, how the government could verify the information input in Padu is accurate.

"YB Rafizi, why do you ask the people to fill out the information when the data is already available? (The) people may be able to smell something fishy.

"From the beginning, I have said that Padu is too complicated and the people have no confidence in this system, for fear of breach of security and private data, and the concerns on the nett disposable income.

"A total of 39 questions are asked in the Padu system and it is not easy for the people in the rural areas to fill out the details with too much information. Even if you have filled out all the information, you won't necessarily get a subsidy because the basic criteria for the subsidy are not announced at all," he wrote.

https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2024/03/24/padu-address-public039s-lack-of-confidence-low-registration-rate-dr-wee-urges-govt