Stand Proud And Be Counted Too

KUALA LUMPUR: Indians in the country are being urged to come out and get themselves accounted for in the government’s 2010 census.
MIC’s Yayasan Strategik Sosial (YSS) executive director Datuk Randhir Singh said many were still unaware of the importance of the census and were afraid of giving out information about themselves and their families.
“Some might feel that census may be intrusion to privacy but this is not the case. The reason we need the details on families and others is strictly for planning matter and national policies,” he said when contacted.
He said there were also concerns that certain segments of the society may be left out in the process due to hard to access location and inaccurate information gathered due to language barrier.
He urged Indians who face problems in getting counted because of barriers like language to contact the YSS.
“There is nothing to be feared. We must help ourselves by helping the government and giving the most accurate information,” he said.
Randhir said the more accurate the figures are, the better is will be for the government to plan its development and planing policies.
“For example, the government needs to know the level of hardcore poverty and how many people are from the hardcore poor category. It is also important in giving out subsidies or plans to reduce it,” he added.
He said the numbers are important in the coming elections especially on the allocation of state and parliamentary seats.
He suggested that Malaysia carries out more promotion and advertisement to educate the people as there were many who were still unaware.
He said it was estimated that the United States spent some USD 15 billion for its census, out of which USD 450 million was for advertising in 28 languages in main newspapers on the importance of the census.
“We want all Malaysians to stand proud and be counted,” he added.
Randhir also stressed the importance of registering as voters and urged all Malaysians to do so as soon as possible.
The Department of Statistics’s nationwide population and household census from July 6 to Aug 22 would involve 29 million people, including about 7.3 per cent foreigners.