Abang Johari said the people of Sarawak were questioning the necessity of providing extensive personal information when registering for Padu, The Borneo Post reported.

“If extensive information is disclosed without relevance to financial matters … we see no justification for acquiring such in-depth details,” he was quoted as saying.

Abang Johari also said there should be limits imposed under the Personal Data Protection Act to safeguard personal information, ensuring alignment with constitutional provisions protecting freedom and liberty.

“You have the right not to disclose personal details. But if it is related to income and also the economic situation, of course, the data is more relevant,” he said.

Last week, Sarawak’s top state government officials in Sri Aman and Sibu were told not to register citizens information with Padu until further notice.

Sri Aman division resident Abang Porkan Abang Budiman gave the order in a circular addressed to district and administrative officers there, Borneo Post reported.

Administrators were urged to relay the message to the community leaders and members of village security and development committees under their charge.

On Tuesday, economy minister Rafizi Ramli said his officials would hold a meeting with the Sarawak government next week to discuss issues involving the Padu registration exercise.

However, Abang Johari said he has not received detailed information about the meeting, except for state secretary Amar Abu Bakar Marzuki confirming Rafizi’s visit to Sarawak for the matter.

“It depends on when the delegation from the economy ministry will come because, of course, Rafizi wants to know more on why we asked for Padu to be postponed,” he said.

“We also want to get other information (about this Padu system), especially regarding privacy.”