PENDANG, March 24 — More than 7.36 million Malaysian citizens, or 35 per cent of the country’s population, have updated their information in the Central Database Hub (Padu).

Chief Statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DoSM) is optimistic that more individuals who have not yet registered or updated their data will do so in the last few days before the March 31 deadline, following increasing awareness.

“We expect a significant increase. Until yesterday, there were about 7.36 million registrations, which exceeds 35 per cent of those aged 18 and above, whom we estimate to be around 20 million Malaysian citizens in that age group.

“From that 7.36 million...the data also includes dependents under 18 years old as well. Therefore, the actual number exceeds 10 million when considering all dependents," he said at the Jelajah Padu tour involving the Siamese community at Kampung Tok Set here today.

Some 100 Kampung Tok Set villagers registered with Padu with DOSM staff facilitating the registration and verification process.

Mohd Uzir said besides dissemination through mass media, government official media, and social media, they also went to rural areas to explain to residents who are still unclear and unfamiliar with Padu.

“In any case, we had expected this and are prepared for a massive influx. For example, yesterday, we recorded over 300,000 registrations in a single day, and we expect it to reach up to 800,000 registrations,” he said.

He said DOSM will also open more physical counters to facilitate public registration and to prevent errors.

On Padu registration in Kedah, Mohd Uzir said statistics show that 33 per cent or approximately 533,000 residents have registered with the system.

“About 41.8 per cent of Kedah's youths have registered, the highest in Malaysia so far, while some 207,000 senior citizens have also registered with Padu. These figures are encouraging,” he said. — Bernama