I REFER to the report “Census vital for policymaking” (The Star, Sept 17), which noted chief statistician of the Statistics Department Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin’s response to the fact that only 1.5 million Malaysians have participated in the e-Census online survey although it has been available since July 7. I tried to sign up for the e-Census within the first week of the website being opened, but I was told via email that my area was not covered by the online survey. I was instead told to be at home in October for the door-to-door census.
I live in Kota Damansara, Petaling Jaya, not in some remote rural area, and have good Internet connection. My wife and I both work and only our teenage children are at home during the week. What’s going to happen if both my wife and I are not at home when the census personnel visit? I wonder how many people’s online applications have been rejected. If my application had been approved, the Statistics Department would have had an additional data point.