THREE stateless children and two red identity card (IC) holders in Penang today expressed their joy after being granted Malaysian citizenship as well as blue identity card.
The “Program Kewarganegaraan Pulau Pinang”, which was established in 2013, was aimed at addressing the stateless problem faced by different communities, including the Malays, Chinese, Indians and other races.
State Deputy Chief Minister II Prof Dr P. Ramasamy had said a special citizenship assistance committee, comprising five special officers, was set up to coordinate citizenship applications in all five districts in the state.
“Since 2013 until February 2020, the programme has benefited 1,539 stateless individuals in Penang to gain their citizenship,” Ramasamy told Buletin Mutiara.
One of the beneficiaries is nine-year-old Tarvind Jayden Nair, who was adopted by Mathavan Nair and wife Amarjit Kaur.
“Due to my wife’s health condition, we were unable to have kids. So, we decided to adopt Tarvind who has given us nothing but just happiness.
“We had to wait for eight years before getting the approval from the ministry (Ministry of Home Affairs), but it was worth it because now our son is now a Malaysian citizen,” Mathavan told Buletin Mutiara during a brief interview session today.
In another case, housewife Sapiah Hamzah was overwhelmed after her adopted son, Mohamad Safuan Ghouse Abdul Rahim, eight, gained his certificate of Malaysian citizenship after eight long years.
“I would like to thank the ministry and Penang government for playing important roles to ensure the approval of my son’s application,” she said.
Separately, Ng Swee Lin, 66, said after two failed attempts to acquire a blue IC, he could finally rejoice over the fact that his application was approved.
“My application was unsuccessful in 1978 and 2011 before it was approved in 2015. I thank the Penang government for showing great support in this matter and hope they will keep up the good work,” said Ng.
Story by Kevin Vimal
Pix by Chan Kok Kuan