PUTRAJAYA, Feb 21 — Three mothers finally breathed a sigh of relief today, as their children born overseas were finally issued with their Malaysian citizenship certificates by the National Registration Department (NRD).
To add to the sweetness of the moment, the mothers — Adlyn Adam Teoh, Myra Eliza Mohd Danil and another who wanted to be known as Devi — had initially been told by NRD officers earlier that their children would not be able to get their certificates today as there was a printing issue.
This despite being asked to present themselves to the NRD headquarters in Putrajaya at 2.30pm today.
However, an officer called the mothers back in as they were about to leave the premises at 5pm after giving a press conference, telling them to wait, as the department had figured out a way to print their childrens’ certificates.
“I am relieved, happy, because I have been applying for this for so long. Initially, I had lost hope but Family Frontiers has given us hope and light,” said Adlyn, who was part of a group of seven women, including Myra, Devi and Family Frontiers president Suriani Kempe, who won the landmark case at the High Court in Kuala Lumpur last September that conferred their children the right to citizenship.
The children of these three mothers are the first to receive confirmation of citizenship after being born overseas to foreign husbands. They submitted their documents on December 29 last year.
Adlyn, who has been waiting for 10 years to get her son pronounced as Malaysian, said today’s events felt like “a rollercoaster ride”.
“My heart was pounding. Honestly, I was quite disappointed earlier as we had already gotten an appointment from NRD to get the certificates.
“It should have been that everything was ready, right? But we were waiting and waiting, and they gave us water. That is good too, thank you, but we came here for certificates.
“But I am very thankful because at the last minute, they called us, and after a short wait, the problem was resolved. So I’m very, very happy,” she said.
It is important to note, however, that the mothers were told by NRD officers to expect a call from the department tomorrow, to confirm that their children’s details have been uploaded to its online system.
It is understood that this confirmation is necessary due to a glitch in the department’s online system.
Malay Mail was unable to get a comment from the NRD officers involved, as media members present today were asked to wait outside the building.
Suriani said that despite the “false starts”, the fact that the three mothers obtained their children’s citizenship certificates today has “got the ball rolling” on the process of obtaining citizenship for thousands of children of other Malaysian mothers in a similar predicament.
“We have started, and although we faced all kinds of challenges, we will still try to speed up this process for the other parents,” she said.
With the citizenship certification process completed, the three children will be able to obtain identification documentation, such as a Malaysian passport and MyKad.
This will allow them access to key infrastructure such as the public schooling system, banking systems and health facilities.
For the record, many mothers, including the three other plaintiffs in the landmark case with Suriani, have yet to receive their children’s citizenship certificates despite claiming to have submitted the relevant documents.
According to Suriani, among the three other plaintiffs, two are overseas and have to obtain their citizenship certificates through the respective embassies, while another resides in Sabah.
“When we asked NRD officers earlier, they said they will check, though they (the NRD) have not received certain documents,” she said.
Furthermore, the government has appealed the September 9 decision from the High Court in Kuala Lumpur, with the case to be heard at the Court of Appeal on March 23.
