Ahmad Fauzi Abdul Hamid of Universiti Sains Malaysia said it has more to do with the non-Malay community’s apathy towards the initiative itself and a general wariness towards government, even one led by PH.
“Non-Malay apathy is directed more towards the government rather than the party itself,” Fauzi told FMT.
“Given that past Malaysian governments were often perceived as Malay-dominated, non-Malays are generally predisposed towards scepticism of the government, irrespective of the ruling party or coalition.”
To remedy this, Fauzi said, the government could make Padu registrations available in other languages, as this would undoubtedly enhance accessibility for non-Malays.
“However, the government must be ready to face the wrath of linguistic nationalists, who are always poised to criticise it for seemingly pandering to non-Malays excessively and frequently,” he said.
On Monday, economy minister Rafizi Ramli expressed concern over the low number of Padu registrations among Klang Valley residents, especially the non-Malays, warning that certain people might miss out on aid programmes they actually qualify for.
In Kuala Lumpur, the localities with the highest number of citizens who have yet to register are Seputeh, Segambut and Bukit Bintang, which Rafizi said have a significant non-Malay population.
As of last Sunday, 5.43 million Malaysians have verified and updated their information on Padu, much lower than the 30.08 million automatically registered by the system, with the March 31 deadline looming.
The government is set to hold a town hall with stakeholders in various Klang Valley areas on Saturday to discuss the low Padu registration rate.
Independent analyst Asrul Hadi Abdullah Sani and Akademi Nusantara’s Azmi Hassan said the low registration simply stems from a belief among non-registrants that they do not qualify for government aid.
Azmi said Putrajaya should not have linked registration on Padu to the disbursement of government aid, as this gave those who did not qualify for such benefits no incentive to enrol.
“The non-Malays do not seem to be convinced that Padu will do anything for them or Malaysia as a whole,” he said.
Azmi also said security concerns were a major issue, citing how a number of government agencies had reportedly been hacked in the past.
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