KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 27 — Kedah-born Gopal Muniandy died at age 50 without finding out whether he succeeded in his appeal in court to be declared a Malaysian citizen.

Gopal, who was abandoned at either two years old or even earlier by his birth parents in an estate in Sungai Petani, had been waiting for years to be officially called a Malaysian.

Last Tuesday, the Court of Appeal heard his citizenship appeal, and was initially supposed to fix a date yesterday to deliver its decision on his case.

However, Gopal’s lawyer Surendra Ananth found out after last Tuesday’s court hearing that his client had died, which means that the case would no longer continue.

Surendra confirmed to Malay Mail that Gopal’s appeal for citizenship had been withdrawn on January 21 with the Attorney General’s Chambers’ (AGC) agreeing to it, and that the AGC had also agreed that there would be no court order on legal costs. 

“The appeal was withdrawn as the appellant had in fact passed away. This was conveyed to me after the hearing. As the wife and only daughter are citizens, there was no longer a ‘live’ issue to pursue the appeal.

“It is very unfortunate he could not get any closure on this,” he said, adding that the appeal’s withdrawal was confirmed by the Court of Appeal during a case management yesterday.

Surendra had last week argued in court that Gopal should automatically be a Malaysian under the Federal Constitution, as he was born truly stateless and is not a citizen of any country in the world.

What was Gopal’s life like without Malaysian citizenship and a MyKad? 

Born in October 1973, Gopal only attended one year of primary school and started working at age 13, as the Malaysian woman who adopted him was illiterate and did not know how to apply for his birth certificate.

Gopal’s birth was only registered in April 2003 and his birth certificate states he is a “non-citizen”, and he received his first-ever MyKAS before his 30th birthday that same year.

MyKAS is a green-coloured identity card issued by the National Registration Department, which allows a person to legally stay in Malaysia as a “temporary resident”.

MyKAS is only valid for five years and the holder has to apply to renew it, and it is usually issued to those whose citizenship status is still unclear.

When contacted, Gopal’s daughter — who declined to be named — confirmed that the family had been waiting for the hearing and decision of the Court of Appeal on the citizenship case.

“Yes, we waited during the case, but after he passed away, we completely forgot about it with everything happening now,” she told Malay Mail.

She said Gopal died at the age of 50 on May 28, 2024 from a cardiac arrest at his workplace, the Selangor Turf Club, where he had worked as a lorry driver for over 10 years.

Banking hurdles with the green MyKAS 

She shared heartbreaking stories of Gopal’s hardship because he only held the green-coloured MyKAS and not the blue-coloured MyKad.

“My father lived in Malaysia for 50 years with a Green IC. Throughout his life, he faced many difficulties because of his status. At work, he was never promoted.

“He faced problems opening a bank account and buying a house. His dream was to own a house and live peacefully in Malaysia, but after years of struggle, he was only able to buy a car,” she said.

She explained that her father had saved up money to buy a house, but the bank rejected his attempt to apply for a house loan as he only had a MyKAS. 

“We also tried to buy a car and faced rejection. After a few years, we managed to buy a car,” she said.

As her mother was Malaysian, she is also a Malaysian but has personally seen first-hand how being stateless had impacted her father.

“Despite living in Malaysia for decades, he never received any government benefits simply because he held a Green IC.

“He could not vote and could not obtain a passport. My parents were even told that it was difficult to send me to school because of my father’s IC.

“Since I was a child, I followed him to meet politicians and visit government offices to seek help in solving his problems. We also spent a lot of money throughout this long process,” she said of her father’s efforts to be recognised as a Malaysian citizen and be issued a MyKad.

She said her father was initially able to open a bank account, as the earlier version of the MyKAS looked like a normal identity card issued to Malaysians and carried the words “Permastautin tetap” (permanent resident).

“After a few years, the government changed the card to a green colour, which caused the problem. Bank officers started questioning how he was able to open the account,” she said, referring to the latter version of MyKAS.

“I clearly remember one incident when his bank card expired. When we went to change the card, the bank staff looked at his IC and began discussing among themselves. The process took a very long time.

“They questioned him, asking how he was able to apply for a bank card with his IC and whether he was from India. Only after many questions did they finally proceed to change the card,” she said, referring to the ATM card tied to his account.

“I could share many more stories like this — stories of disappointment, humiliation, and hardship that my father faced. Yet, he never gave up fighting for his rights. 

“Until the day he passed away, he continued trying to obtain Malaysian citizenship. He wrote letters to ministers, hoping to find a solution for Green IC holders,” she said.

Based on court documents, Gopal had sent letters to then prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak in 2010, then home minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein in 2013, and also had letters from the aides of then home ministers Hishammuddin (2013) and Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi (2015, 2017) who wrote to the NRD and Home Ministry officials to ask for feedback on his case.

Gopal’s daughter now hopes the Malaysian government can solve the citizenship problems of others who are in the same situation as her father.

“In the end, he passed away without receiving anything. I sincerely hope he is at peace now after all the struggles he endured throughout his life. 

“I am certain there are many people like my father who are still fighting the same issue. I truly hope the government will provide a fair and lasting solution, so that their families and children will not have to go through the same struggles,” she told Malay Mail.

Currently, the Malaysian government’s position in cases like Gopal’s is that those born in Malaysia must first show the identity of their birth parents, in order to prove they are truly stateless and qualify for automatic Malaysian citizenship.

This is because the government’s position is that a child might not be stateless, if their birth parents — whom the child does not know — are citizens of another country and the child could then inherit that parent’s citizenship. 

But Surendra, who had represented Gopal pro bono, said stateless people such as his client should not have to find or prove their unknown birth parents’ identity in order to be recognised as Malaysians.

“⁠There are a lot of cases involving abandoned children who cannot locate their biological parents. Which abandoned child can possibly ask their parents where they came from? It is ridiculous to require them to find out.

“The law does not even require this. All it requires is for the child to be born in Malaysia and not born a citizen of another country. It is meant to protect stateless people, not do further harm to them,” he said, referring to the Federal Constitution’s Section 1(e) of Part II of the Second Schedule.

The Court of Appeal had last week heard five other similar cases involving Malaysia-born persons who had been adopted by Malaysians and who do not know who their birth parents are.

Recommended reading:

• Abandoned by parents, 50-year-old Kedah man born in estate in court bid to be Malaysian citizen
• ‘Impossible’ for Kedah man abandoned as child to find his birth parents, court hears in citizenship appeal
• Counting Malaysia’s ‘invisible’ people: How many born here cannot be citizens despite their local roots
• Lawyers: Give automatic citizenship to stateless children adopted by Malaysians