Don’t worry, it’s a population and household census, not a scam!

 The nationwide “6th Malaysian Population and Household Census” started on July 15, but Penang residents are believed to be afraid of being scammed. In the pilot census program conducted by the authorities in 620 households in June, as many as 29% of the respondents refused to take the census.

This makes Penang the state with the highest rate of refusing the population and family census in the country, followed by Selangor at 27% and Johor Bharu at 27%.

Wanuledia, national service line director of Ipsos, an international market consulting firm responsible for the rates in more advanced states are the biggest obstacles facing the census.

“In Penang, the highest rejection rate was among landed households in George Town, especially in the Ailianyu area, accounting for 83 % of the total.

At a press conference held at Everbright on Thursday, she urged the public to temporarily put aside their guard and actively cooperate with the population and household census.

The 10-yearly “Malaysian Population and Family Census” was announced last week by the Minister of  Women, Family and Community Development, Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri, and the census will last until December 31.

 The authorities will conduct a population and household census on 3,040 households randomly selected from the five districts in Penang, including 1,800 urban households and 1,240 sub-urban households.

The respondents were divided into five major groups, namely married women and married men aged 15 to 59, unmarried teenagers aged 13 to 24, senior citizens aged 60 and above, and single residents aged 25 to 59.

All census takers will be dispatched in group of 3 to 4 to visit different areas. 

Wanulediya pointed out that in order to encourage people to participate, each resident who successfully completes the questionnaire will receive a RM 10 allowance, paid in cash or electronic transfer.

She said that in order to make their identities recognizable to the public, all census takers will wear vests and hats with the National Population and Family Development Board (LPPKN) logo, and carry a badge with their personal identity card printed on it when they go out.

She did not deny that since the questionnaire involves personal privacy, some questions would be slightly sensitive. In order to ensure that the respondents feel comfortable, male census takers will be responsible for male residents, while female census takers will be responsible for female residents.

“At the same time, we will send census takers from different ethnic groups to ensure that they can communicate with the respondents in the same language and fully understand the contents of the questionnaire.”

She explained that the individual or family population structure of the interviewed households was selected based on whether they met the interviewee group  conditions set by the authorities and were suitable as census samples.

She said that the census takers will visit residents directly at their homes. If the residents are not at home, they will leave their identity, mobile phone number and census manual on the door and ask the residents to reply and arrange a time for the visit.

” If the resident does not respond or refuses on the spot, the census taker will visit the resident seven times without success before considering the resident as not accepting the census and changing the residents.”

However, she also stated that residents can choose to accept ore reject, and the government will not take any retaliatory action.

The press conference was chaired by Penang Social Development Committee Chairperson Lim Siew Chin, who took the initiative to offer to accompany the census takers to visit door-to-door.

“I believe that with the presence of people’s representatives, the people will be able to confirm that this is a government census and not a scam.”

She also asked the federal and state legislators in each district to actively promote the census in their constituencies so that the people can cooperate and participate.

Also present included Penang Women’s Development Corporation Chief Executive Officer Datuk Wang Mei Ling and National Population and Family Development Board Penang Director Azura.

Azmel, director of the Population and Family Research Group of the National Population and Family Development Board, stressed that the questionnaire will take no longer than 45 minutes, and called on the people to cooperate and participate so that the government can obtain sufficient survey samples and formulate policies that accurately meet the needs.

He explained that one of the ways for this census to allow the public to identify the person coming is a method used by regular census takers, which is that interviews will not be conducted using paper and pen, but using tablet computers.

” Census takers will be equipped with tablet computers and use AI data summarization to quickly complete the questionnaire with one question and one answer.”

The census questionnaire covers 10 original areas, including work and income, savings and borrowing, marriage and divorce, family planning, fertility and pregnancy, reproductive health, social and sexual life, family life, young people’s wishes and hopes, and elderly assistance and care.

The four new areas are social support, well-being and happiness, mental health and loneliness, and harassment and violence.

The director of the National Population and Family Development Board, Abdul Shukur, said that in the Malaysian family structure, the “extended family” with many members has disappeared in the past 10 years, and it may be replaced by the “DINK family” 

“This is also a global trend. Dink refers to a couple with two incomes and no children, forming a small family of two.”

He pointed out that modern family structures have undergone major changes, with more people tending to remain single. This census targeted married men and women, unmarried teenagers, and older single men and women.

” We need  to understand the reasons for marriage divorce and non-marriage, as well as whether young people have family support to plan for the future.”

He added that Malaysia will enter an ageing population by 2030, with 25% of the total population aged and 60 and above, so interviews with the elderly group are also very important to check whether they feel lonely and have sufficient pension.

“Only by understanding the various causes and conducting comprehensive research can the government formulate future national policies in response to thr needs of various groups.”

For safety reasons, the public can visit the National Population and Family Development Board LPPKN website www.lppkn.gov.my , or the 6th Malaysian Population and Family Census official website kpkm6.lppkn.gov.my , as well as LPPKN’s social media for details.