KOTA KINABALU, March 31 — The counters at the Kota Kinabalu Urban Transformation Centre (UTC) attracted a large number of people who were rushing to sign up with the Central Database Hub (Padu) system today, the final day for registration.

Apart from the UTC, similar physical counters were open from 8am to 4pm at Wisma Majlis Ugama Islam Sabah; Puri Warisan, Inanam; and Kampung Gudon, Menggatal.

A spokesman of the Sabah branch of the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DoSM) said as of noon today, more than 880,000 people in Sabah have updated their information in the Padu system.

Ramlan Abdullah, 64, a farmer from Tebobon here, said he turned up to register with Padu to ensure that he and his family would not miss out on government aid.

"I did not mean to wait until the last minute but my children were too busy to send me on other days. Initially, I tried to register online but was unsuccessful so I had to come today,” he told Bernama at the Kota Kinabalu UTC.

Ramlan said he had to wait his turn but was thankful to DoSM staff for their efficient service.

He said an express counter and comfortable seating were provided for senior citizens, persons with disabilities and those in need.

E-hailing driver Al Jibil Hamid, 34, said he only managed to register today because he was busy with work.

"After failing to register online, I decided to visit a physical counter but kept postponing the trip. I signed up to avoid missing out on aid,” said the Penampang resident.

Nurlisa Azijan, 31, a clerk from Petagas, said she had to wait patiently to sign up at Kota Kinabalu UTC because there was a huge crowd as expected.

"It was a mistake to wait until the last day but work commitments and daily errands made it quite difficult for me to find time to go to the counter. I don’t really understand how to do it online, so today I patiently waited,” she said. — Bernama