Complaints about official data has been that important data is not being collected, that available data is not disaggregated making it less useful and finally that statistics seem “carefully managed and presented in a way that often obscures crucial details”. Are these criticisms valid? Melisa Idris and Sharaad Kuttan speak to Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin, Chief Statistician at the Department of Statistics Malaysia.