Debating the Cyber Security Bill in the Dewan Rakyat, Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal (PN-Machang) claimed the public did not trust economy minister Rafizi Ramli to manage the data on Padu as he was the founder of data analytics firm Invoke.
“To ensure Padu is safe, controlled and trusted by the people, I suggest Padu be placed under the digital ministry,” he said.
“Because of this, I agree with the Johor state legislative assembly speaker (Puad Zarkashi) that people don’t trust Pandan (Rafizi) because he used to be a data merchant and worked at Invoke.”
He added that transferring Padu to the digital ministry would result in more people registering with the database created to allocate government subsidies and assistance to those who deserve it.
Yesterday, Rafizi announced that 8.1 million Malaysians have registered with Padu, amounting to 36.8% of the adult population.
Last Saturday, Rafizi said he expected 10 million people to register with Padu by the March 31 deadline, well short of the government’s initial target of 29 million.
Yesterday, Rafizi denied the low number of registrations among non-Malays was due to a lack of trust in the government’s intentions.
He said this was more due to the fact that many non-Bumiputeras were not accustomed to receiving monthly assistance from the government.
Meanwhile, Wan Fayhsal, who is also the Bersatu Youth chief, warned the government not to use the Cyber Security Act to threaten the opposition once it was approved.
“I don’t want it to be misused by the government to oppress people, especially the opposition, just like how the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing Act 2001 was used against Pagoh and Tasek Gelugor,” he said.
He was referring to Pagoh MP Muhyiddin Yassin and Tasek Gelugor MP Wan Saiful Wan Jan. Muhyiddin is the Bersatu president while Wan Saiful is the party’s former information chief.
Government backbencher Young Syefura Othman (PH-Bentong) echoed a similar sentiment by reminding the government that procedures for searches and seizures without warrants included in the bill should not be abused.
“In the bill, authorised officers will be granted access to computer data, including passwords, for investigative purposes,” she said.
“While we aim to tighten laws and enhance enforcement to combat cybercrime, we also do not want any abuse of power that could disrupt public peace.”