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MP SPEAKS | The national census, which is conducted once every 10 years, is an important data collection exercise for the country. Census data will be used by government agencies at the federal, state, and local levels for planning and resource allocation purposes.
The private sector will also use the census for a variety of purposes, including planning for future housing and commercial development. As such, it is important to ensure that the 2020 Census results are as accurate as possible. Unfortunately, the Covid-19 virus has the potential to disrupt information gathering for the 2020 Census.
The announcement by the Prime Minister’s Department Minister Mustapa Mohamed and Malaysia’s Chief Statistician Mohd Uzir Mahidin on October 5, 2020, that the face-to-face portion of the 2020 census will be postponed until 2021 is very welcome. move.
The announcement that the electronic census deadline will be extended from September 30, 2020 to December 21, 2020 is also a good measure. This is due to the growing number of Covid-19 cases transmitted locally in the country. But the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM), which is in charge of the 2020 Census, needs to do more to prepare for the face-to-face census that will take place from January 20 to February 6, 2021.
As of October 4, 2020, only 3.25 million of the population, or roughly 10 percent, had registered using the 2020 electronic Census. This relatively low response rate could be due to several factors, including:
(i) Respondents have not received the ‘postcard’ from DOSM with the ‘invitation code’ to complete the electronic census;
(ii) respondents do not know how to access the electronic census website; Y
(iii) Respondents do not know how to complete the electronic census.
I filled out the census for my two-person household, and it took me over half an hour to complete the answer to over 100 questions. Those who have not yet completed the electronic census probably belong to groups that are less knowledgeable about IT, the older generation or who live in rural areas. While it is a positive move to encourage more people to complete the census electronically, the reality is that the majority of the census will have to be completed through face-to-face interviews.
According to figures from the census website, many of the states with large rural populations have had a relatively low response rate to the electronic census, including Kelantan (4.1 percent), Sabah (4.3 percent), Terengganu ( 4.6 percent), Kedah (7.7 percent), Pahang (7.7 percent), and Sarawak (8.5 percent).
At the same time, Selangor, the state with the largest population in Malaysia (6.3 million or about 20 percent of the country’s population), which is also an urbanized state, only had a response rate of 11.2 percent as of October 4.
Even with the extension of the deadline for the electronic census until December 21, 2020, it is likely that up to 80 percent of the eight million households in Malaysia will have to complete the 2020 census using the face-to-face method. . The DOSM has set dates from January 20 to February 6, 2021 to complete the face-to-face portion of the 2020 Census. With a 17-day window and perhaps as many as 6.4 million households to conduct surveys across the country, DOSM is estimated to require at least 38,000 census takers / enumerators. For Sarawak alone, an estimated 8,000 census takers are needed.
These enumerators should be trained in how to help respondents complete the census document, including in languages other than Bahasa Malay, if necessary, and should be mobilized to their designated areas.
The original schedule for the face-to-face portion of the census was supposed to take place from October 7-24, 2020. In the run-up to this original start date, my office began receiving many messages from the Hulu Langat District Office and other sources. regarding a recruitment campaign for census takers. I’m not sure if the quota for these census takers was completed, but I anticipate a similar challenge for DOSM to recruit and fill these temporary positions in 2021.
I call on DOSM to work with the various agencies at the state and federal level, including those who are looking for work to fill these temporary positions. The hiring drive should start earlier to avoid last minute requests to fill these positions.
Finally, DOSM should also consider increasing the duration of the face-to-face census from 17 days to 24 days or even longer, as the process of filling out the census may take longer due to security precautions and standard operating procedures related to Covid- 19.
NGO KIAN MING is a deputy from Bangi and deputy director of political education at DAP.
The opinions expressed here are those of the author / contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.
