KUCHING, April 5 — Sarawak Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Minister Datuk Seri Abdui Karim Rahman Hamzah today expressed his confidence that the federal government will address issues relating to the state’s concerns about the Central Database Hub’s (Padu) security implementation and protocol.

He said he believes that something was being done based on the assurance given by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim when he was in Samarahan recently.

"So, we let the initiator of the programme, that is, the Ministry of Economy, to come up with what has been done,” Karim said to reporters at a press conference called to announce the holding of the Samarahan Food and Cultural Festival next month.

He said it would not be proper for him to announce what has been done, "but at least our worries are being looked into, indicating that the federal government is sensitive to whatever are the views from the people”.

"This is something very good because the government should also listen to the people,” he added.

Karim said he does not know when Minister of Economy Rafizi Ramli will brief state government officials as indicated previously.

"But I do know now that the data of Malaysians can also be obtained from other government sources,” he said, explaining the reason for sudden bump in the number of people registered with Padu.

He also expressed hope that data deemed as too personal should not be used for other purposes.

On March 25, Sarawak Deputy Minister of Law, Malaysia Agreement 1963 and State-Federal Relations Datuk Sharifah Hasidah Sayeed Aman Ghazakili said that the state government was seeking clarifications from the Ministry of Economy (MoE) regarding Padu’s security implementation and protocols.

She had said the clarifications were pertinent in order for the Sarawak government to fully support the federal government’s initiative, as it also needed to protect Sarawakians’ interests.

She said Malaysia had no specific law such as a Privacy Act to protect personal privacy, except for the Personal Data Protection Act 2010 (PDPA), which regulates the processing of personal data in regard to commercial transactions and provides principles for data protection, including consent, purpose limitation, and data security.