Malaysian-born 17 year old finally gets recognised as a Malaysian citizen

How do you live in the country of your birth when that country refuses to admit you’re a citizen? With a lot of difficulty, apparently.

Navin Moorthy had been living in stateless limbo for all of his 17 years, until Tuesday, when he went to the National Registration Department in Putrajaya to finally – finally! – be given approval by the Federal Government to be recognised as a Malaysian citizen. 

“I am happy that I finally got it. It did take a long time. It is a very big deal for me,” Navin told The Star Online‘s Joseph Kaos Jr. With him at the NRD were his father, R Moorthy, and Navin’s lawyer, Annou Xavier. 

Navin was issued a temporary identity card, and was told he would receive his official MyKad soon. 

The son of a Malaysian father and a Filipino mother, Navin’s status was stated as “bukan warganegara” (“non-citizen”) in the NRD’s system when he was two years old. 

The elder Moorthy applied twice to the NRD – in 2010 and after Navin turned 12 in 2011 – for his son to be recognised as a Malaysian citizen, but it was a long, arduous journey. Both applications were rejected by the Federal Government. 

On December 17, 2013, Xavier, acting on Navin’s behalf, filed suit against the NRD director-general, the secretary-general of the Home Ministry, and the Federal Government itself. 

The suit states that Navin was born in Klinik Sarmukh in Jalan Genting Klang on July 8, 1998, and was issued a Malaysian birth certificate.

Moorthy also complained that due to the non-citizen status of his son, he had to pay a levy just to get Navin enrolled in a national school.

The High Court on Nov 25, 2014 ordered that Navin be awarded a citizenship and given a MyKad.

The Government appealed the decision, but it was dismissed by the Court of Appeal on July 29 last year.

“He is now a boy in the big family of Malaysia, no longer stateless,” said Xavier.

“Being a citizen means he can now do many things a boy his age can do, that a non-citizen can’t. He can go to university as a Malaysian, he can apply for a driving licence or buy flight tickets to go travelling and more.”

Navin himself seemed thrilled at the new opportunities that full citizenship now affords him.

“I cannot really tell what I am going to do first, as there are just so many things on my mind now. But I am definitely happy this is done,” he said.

 




BECOME A COCO+ MEMBER

Support local news and join a community of like-minded
“Coconauts” across Southeast Asia and Hong Kong.

Join Now
Coconuts TV
Our latest and greatest original videos
Subscribe on
preload imagepreload image