6.4 million households completed e-Census as at Dec 6 - Mustapa

KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 6.4 million households have responded and completed their details in the 2020 Malaysian Population and Housing Census online using e-Census as at Dec 6, the Dewan Rakyat was told.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Economic Affairs) Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed said they made up 19.7 per cent from the estimated 32.7 million of Malaysia’s population.

“We have 13 more days before the online phase of the census is over and we do hope that the target of 30 per cent of the population using e-Census will be achieved by end of this year,” he said during Question Time today.

Mustapa said this in reply to Wong Shu Qi (DAP-Kluang) who wanted to know the number of households and the percentage that have completed their details in the e-Census so far and the percentage of the online census that Department of Statistics targets to achieve.

He said the 2020 Census is being implemented in two phases, with the first initially scheduled for July 7 to Sept 30 and the second scheduled for Oct 7 to 24, 2020.

However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the first phase of the census, which is the online phase, has been extended to Dec 21, and the second phase, which is face-to-face, was rescheduled to start from Jan 20 to Feb 6, 2021.

Meanwhile, he said the ministry was in the midst of implementing various programmes to increase the response for the online phase especially in Sabah, which had recorded the lowest response so far at 6.7 per cent.

“A total of 1,700 census clinics, e-Census Hour and e-Census Day have also been held virtually to increase the response,” he added.

-- BERNAMA