BUT IT’S NOT ALL NRD’S FAULT!

KUCHING: Trusty Ruhi from Mukah is 12 years old and she has a legitimate birth certificate. However, when her parents, oil palm worker Minggang Puja, 38, and housewife Mary Ekin, 31, brought her to the National Registration Department (NRD) to apply for her MyKad, they were shown the door.

Frustrated, Minggang, Mary, Trusty, their seven-year-old son Edwin Nyuntai and Trusty’s uncle Siba Bunsu came to The Borneo Post’s office here recently, to air their grievances.

But it’s not all NRD’s fault. In fact, they wanted to help, but there are procedures to follow.

“In principle, as long as one of Trusty’s parents is a Malaysian, Trusty is entitled to a MyKad, but not automatically because we also need her parents’ marriage certificate,” said a NRD spokesperson when contacted yesterday.

The problem in Trusty’s case is her parents could not produce their marriage certificate. In addition, Mary neither has a birth certificate nor MyKad.

Asked how Trusty, who studies at SK Sungai Penipah Mukah, got her birth certificate in the first place, the NRD spokesperson explained: “Anybody who is born in Malaysia is entitled to a birth certificate.” Siba claimed that when they went to the NRD to get Trusty her MyKad, the officers instead asked Mary to fill ‘Borang B’, which is a citizenship form.

“What we fear is that if Mary submitted Borang B, it means she is not a citizen, but a foreigner.

“Secondly, we fear that her children’s application for MyKad might be rejected once Mary is deemed a foreigner,” argued Siba, who flew in from Bintulu while the others travelled from Mukah.

He insisted that Mary is a Malaysian, but the NRD can’t accept this because she neither has a birth certificate nor a MyKad.

Siba, who is a headman at Batu 25, Jalan Bintulu Miri, claimed that Mary had wanted to apply for her MyKad via late registration in 2010 but was asked to apply for her birth certificate first.

“This is all very confusing. On one hand, a unit of the NRD assured us that there was no problem in getting Trusty a Mykad while another asked Mary to apply for citizenship first!”

The family was said to be upset also when they were not allowed to see the state NRD director to get his clarifications and explanations on the whole issue.

Siba said he hoped NRD would help Minggang’s family because without Mykad, Mary, Trusty and Edwin would be treated as aliens.

The NRD spokesperson remarked: “We are most willing to help the family.

In fact, we have already sent a letter to their Mukah address on Sept 18 as we do not have their telephone contact number.

“As Mary’s nationality is in dispute, there are two ways to go about it.

If Mary refuses to fill Borang B, then she must produce a marriage certificate.

Then we can proceed with Trusty’s application.

“The second option is that Mary has no choice but to fill in Borang B to apply for citizenship, then NRD can proceed with Trusty’s application.”.

She said in Trusty’s case, the fastest her application would get approved was six months as such a case would come under the purview of the Ministry of Home Affairs.

She believed there was a high chance that Trusty’s application would be approved.

“This case points to the fact that it is important to register here if a Malaysian is to marry a foreigner or re-register if they have already registered overseas.”.

She said NRD would never try to make anybody’s life difficult but they had certain procedures to follow.

As both NRD and The Borneo Post could not contact Minggang’s family, members of the public who know them are urged to inform them to go to the nearest NRD office to seek further information with regards to Trusty’s case. (BP)