KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 2 — The long-awaited Central Database System (Padu) will go live later today after its official launch by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

This will also mean that Malaysians who are eligible for targeted subsidies are one step closer to receiving the much-needed aid, as the government will use Padu to implement the targeted subsidies.

However, Padu is much more than just a tool to disseminate targeted subsidies, as it will be the government’s central database system of 32 million Malaysians.

Padu, managed by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DoSM), covers nearly 300 types of data under the federal government, with data from state and local governments gradually included.

Except for banking data, as Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli said the Banking and Financial Institutions Act 1989 (BAFIA), does not permit the use of such data by anyone.

Is data stored with Padu safe? This was among other concerns raised, and to this, Rafizi was previously reported saying that there will be no changes in the ownership of data (currently owned by either government departments or agencies). As for retrieving of data, agencies that contribute may not necessarily be able to take these data for their usage.

The Economy Minister has also assured the public that existing laws of the respective government departments or agencies govern all data that Padu uses.

What’s inside Padu?

Those curious about what Padu contains include profiles of individuals and households which encompasses citizens and permanent residents in Malaysia.

It also seeks to provide a secure, comprehensive and "near real-time” main national database for digitisation and the production of periodic analytics.

Essentially, it is a data-driven policy formulation and decision-making process.

What Padu does is also improve the government’s efficiency in the aspect of delivery system service.

It will also empower the social system through increasing economic and people's well-being, bridging the socioeconomic gap by balancing the needs of the people.

How can the public contribute?

Those who are 18 years old and above are required to verify that their information is up to date with Padu.

They will have until March 31 to update their profile information with the government.

Because the system was built by civil servants, it did not incur additional setup costs except for hardware which amounted to RM2 million.

Rafizi reportedly said that Padu was fully developed by civil servants from three agencies (Ministry of Economy, Department of Statistics Malaysia — DOSM and the Malaysian Administrative Modernisation and Management Planning Unit — Mampu) in collaboration with all other agencies.

He said civil servants developed the system using existing allocations and infrastructure without the need to open new tenders to private entities, thus not incurring additional expenses, as is often the case whenever a new system is introduced to the government.

And why the system was developed within seven months (May to December this year), it was all thanks to civil servants who worked day and night for seven months without additional allocations.