Asrul Hadi Abdullah Sani, an independent political analyst, reported to CNA that Malaysia’s policy changes have eroded people trust in the government and lacked confidence in national programs and plans.
The “low amount” of licenses for PADU, he said, referring to Malaysia’s key information gateway, which aims to collect comprehensive income data from all Malaysians to enable the precise targeting of state subsidies, could be seen in this.
29 million Malay had a first-class voluntary registration date of March 31 as the government’s initial target. But a slower rate of sign-ups, compounded by security concerns and claims of a faith gap, compelled the government to reduce its objective to 11 million, or quarter of Malaysia’s adult people.  ,
After enrollment closed on Mar 31, PADU’s full admission including children stood at 17.65 million, reported the Malay Mail.
” The new legislation setbacks, such as MyDigital ID and people, are reinforcing the public’s belief that the Anwar management is no different from previous administrations”, Mr Asrul Hadi added.
During the COVID-19 epidemic under then-premier Muhyiddin Yassin’s management, Malay were riled away by what they perceived as regular flip-flops in laws.
Work-from-home guidelines were included in these, as well as what products food and convenience stores may offer during the lockdown.
The more recent reversals, according to Prof. Said Bani, give the impression of inconsistent legislation execution and transparency, which have an impact on public confidence in digitalization efforts.
” From a communication perspective, these U-turns can be seen as indicative of a reactive method, which may indicate to the community that there is a lack of cooperation and clearness within the president’s policymaking procedure”, he said.
” The general public may question whether extensive planning and due diligence are being followed constantly, especially when policies are introduced and then quickly reversed,” the statement says.
WHY U-TURNS HAPPEN
According to Dr. Ong, the common thread in policy U-turns is that the politicians lack sufficient “hands on and minds on” when it comes to coverage design and implementation.
Before such policies are implemented to a wider audience, especially in areas that could possibly affect a larger number of users, a policymaker who has this sort of understanding may ask for proof of concepts, pilot initiative rollouts, and pressure testing, he said.
Mr. Asrul Hadi pointed out that this problem has persisted throughout various Malaysian administrations, which have released “grand blueprints” that have n’t been effectively communicated to the officials who are expected to implement the policy.
” Additionally, there is criticism regarding the lack of active engagement with the industry and the public when implementing policies”, he said.
This has resulted in a lack of caution regarding potential public outcry and unsatisfactory policy implementation, which has resulted in reverses or U-turns by the federal government.