Malaysians are reminded to register with the Main Database System (Sistem Pangkalan Data Utama or PADU and update their individual and household information from January 2 to March 31.
Through the system, individuals are required to review data by updating and verifying the 39 required personal information.
It is important for the government to get accurate information about the socioeconomic status of each family because information on name and place of residence alone is not enough to meet the targets of the social assistance system.
The effort is seen to provide major changes to government services in a better and efficient direction for the people.
According to the Ministry of Economy, the implementation of the system aims to improve management efficiency to facilitate the collection, storage and management of data from various sources.
It’s minister Rafizi Ramli explained that there needs to be effective monitoring and evaluation of the implementation of national policy therefore PADU is an integrated and centralised database capable of saving resources significantly.
However, there are some who think the system is a waste because it allegedly involves contracts worth hundreds of millions of ringgit.
Rafizi denied the accusation and explained that it was developed entirely by civil servants from three main agencies, namely the Ministry of Economy, the Department of Statistics (DOSM) and the Malaysian Administration and Management Planning Modernisation Unit (MAMPU) including the collaboration of various other agencies.
He said that civil servants develop PADU by using existing allocations and all infrastructure does not require a new tender to the private sector.
Rafizi added it does not involve additional expenses like the new system introduced by the government before.
Therefore, through the implementation of this PADU, it is hoped that no more parties will be excluded from receiving aid, especially for the most needy.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is expected to launch PADU at the Putrajaya International Convention Center (PICC) at 12.15pm on Tuesday.
The Importence of PADU
Pangkalan Data Utama (PADU) is going live on 2nd January 2024.
PADU is aimed to be a central database system which combines data from various government agencies under one roof. This follows what Anwar said in May 2023 on the data the government has is incomplete and it is hard to formulate good policies and plans for the public with improper data.
Managed by the Department of Statistics and several other agencies, PADU aims to help find, keep and store data better which will then aid the government in providing holistic data to implement targeted subsidies and social protection.
It is also to address the fact that Malaysia has spent RM81 billion on subsidies in 2023 alone and there’s a need to distribute it fairly to those in need.
Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Minister Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali said the effective identification process through PADU will enable the government to ensure that the subsidies reach the intended target groups and are not misappropriated by irresponsible parties to gain profit.
With the implementation of PADU, the government aims for a more focused distribution of subsidies, which also covers the number of dependencies and locations. It is moving away from the general income categories such as B40, M40 or T20 to disburse subsidies which doesn’t give a true picture of household disposable income.
Rafizi said in May: “Once we get to that level (household net disposable income), we will get a clearer picture of the net disposable income’s comparability for households, and that will allow us to refine any government programmes and target subsidies accordingly.”
To entice users, Rafizi announced last week that there will be some freebies for early bird users of PADU. The first 3,000 users will receive an Enhanced Touch ‘n Go card with NFC functionality as well as discounts to shop at Mydin. Details of the redemption of these benefits are expected to be revealed during the official launch.
Asked about the cost of development, Rafizi said there are two parts to it. He said the manpower cost is “free” because it is built by civil servants who have spent the last 7 months developing it on top of their existing tasks. The second cost is for server and bandwidth which amounts to a few million ringgit and it taps into the existing budget allocated by the government for 2023 and 2024. He said the hardware cost itself is RM2 million for a start.
What Happens If Malaysians Fails To Register
Malaysians are given until 31st March 2024 to update and validate their details on PADU. However, PADU isn’t compulsory and Rafizi has confirmed that no action will be taken if you opt-out.
He reminded that the PADU is using information that’s readily available in all government databases to gauge the household profile and the information will determine their eligibility for subsidies. Malaysians are urged to register and update their information to ensure that they won’t be left out of future initiatives by the government. He said the public must not “be mad at the government” if they do not receive the targeted subsidies after they choose to opt out of the database.
When asked about underserved communities especially those living in rural areas without connectivity, DOSM said there will be onground outreach programs that will assist with the manual registration for PADU. The manual registration can be carried out at Digital Economy Centres (PEDi), district offices and government offices.
The Registration process
PADU will collate all data about you from over 270 existing government databases of various agencies. This means you do not need to fill up any new information if the presented data is correct and up to date. All that is required is for you to check and update the information especially when it comes to your income and dependency.
According to PADU’s FAQ, the registration process requires an e-KYC (Electronic Know your customer) process to verify the identity of the person. The verification process is crucial as giving access to the wrong user will be detrimental as it is a central database containing all of your information from various government agencies. Its belived that the details will be announce after its launch.
The PADU FAQ also mentions that MyDigital ID will be integrated with PADU at a later phase. This seems to be a missed opportunity as PADU could have been the perfect first use case to get Malaysians to use MyDigital ID. Since MyDigital ID is a digital extension of an IC, users can immediately log in to PADU without an additional eKYC verification process. Of course, an initial enrolment process with fingerprint verification at a kiosk would be required but at least it is a onetime process.
Is PADU secure and safe?
Rafizi said the ownership of data still belongs to the respective government agencies. For example, your IC details still fall under the National Registration Department. He said all data used by PADU is still governed by existing Acts of the respective government departments or agencies. In the meantime, they have data-sharing agreements between the agencies so that they can share data.
Rafizi has shared that the government is going to put forth an Omnibus Act which will enable data sharing among all government agencies via Padu. At the moment, he said data ownership is still by the respective agencies but PADU will still be owned and managed by the Department of Statistics.
He added all the collected information obtained would be placed into a data lake and the process is mostly done via Secure FTP. To ensure the records are up to date, the respective agencies will provide the data periodically. Once the PADU portal is open, he said users can update at any time.
However, going forward, he said the idea is to start developing as many APIs as possible. He said the current method of using FTP can be almost real-time depending on the frequency of the data submission by the agencies. Rafizi explained that with an API, if an individual for example has changed employment, the new income recorded by EPF will automatically be updated to PADU.
