Gerakan labels Padu’s automatic registration as ‘information theft’
GEORGE TOWN, April 1 — Gerakan deputy president Oh Tong Keong has labelled the automatic registration of the public’s information in the Central Database Hub (Padu) as “theft” and “robbery”.
He likened the unity government to a “robber” who steals the public’s information with the implementation of automatic registration.
“Some people chose to not register because they were worried about their personal information being leaked and they were not confident with the Padu’s security,” he said during a press conference at the Gerakan headquarters here.
He said the automatic registration without the consent of the people is seen as stealing the public’s personal data and information.
Oh asked Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim if he knew that the people’s data will be automatically entered into Padu after the March 31 deadline.
The Penang Gerakan chairman also criticised Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli for not managing the Padu registration seriously.
“He has fooled the people and wasted government resources including public funds and the time of civil servants and the people,” he said.
Yesterday, Chief Statistician Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin said those who did not register with Padu will still have their basic data automatically entered into the system.
“Are Rafizi and the Statistics Department worried that they were unable to achieve 50 per cent registration on the last day yesterday so they rushed to implement automatic registration?” he asked.
He also questioned the legitimacy of the automatic registration by the Statistics Department using data from various agencies.
“This is because early this year, Rafizi said the Omnibus Act is expected to be enacted this year to allow data sharing and public storage among government agencies. Was this tabled and approved in Parliament?” he asked.
He then questioned the amount spent by the government on publicity and the opening of Padu counters in over these last three months.
“Who is paying for these costs?” he asked.
He asked for clarification on the total costs for the Padu system.
“Rafizi said it costs about RM2 million but MCA president Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong said it costs RM80 million so please explain which is true,” he said.
Oh demanded to know if Rafizi has informed the Cabinet about the compulsory registration of Padu for everyone through this automatic registration process.
“With this automatic registration, all the publicity and registration work in these three months were a waste of public funds and time,” he said.
He said Anwar should act against Rafizi for wasting public funds and the people’s time.
