After 16 years of being in limbo regarding his Malaysian citizen status, one man has taken his plight to the media.
In 2001, wanting to register his marriage, Tang Woon Seng, instead found himself having his MyKad (compulsory Malaysian identity card) seized by authorities, who could not fathom that a man of Indian descent could bear a Chinese name.
Woon Seng was adopted at birth by a Chinese family, and raised alongside six brothers and sisters in Port Dickson, after his family could not care for him.
Authorities initially believed his documents to be forged, and seized his identification card, despite the fact that he had been raised by his adopted family, in his hometown, for his entire life.
The 34-year-old was then told that his adopted father had made the clerical mistake of registering him as his biological son when filing his birth certificate. Surprisingly, when he went to register his son at the National Registration Department (NRD) for his MyKad over 20 years ago, Woon Seng and his father had no issue with the “biological son” status.
It was only when Woon wanted to marry did the issue come to light.
At the time, he was given a temporary identity card. The card states that he is a non-citizen, regardless of having been born and raised in Malaysia his entire life. His child is also registered as a non-citizen.
He has yet to have his MyKad reinstated.
Harian Metro now reports that NRD Director-General Datuk Mohd Yazid Ramli has personally stated that the issue is being investigated.
By law, Malaysian-born children, adopted by Malaysian parents should be given automatic Malaysian citizenship.
