LETTER | Plight of a stateless child

LETTER | Being stateless is a living dilemma for me despite being born in Malaysia in 2007 to a Malaysian father and yet I was not granted Malaysian citizenship.

My father has made many applications and appeals to the National Registration Department (NRD) since 2010 (the latest being in September 2022) but sadly all to no avail (without any reply from NRD).

Every day is a nightmare for my single-parent father who is a plumber and the stateless me for the past 16 years.

Compounding my dilemma, I have been suffering from Systemic Lupus Erythomatosus (SLE) since September 2018 - when I was 11 years old.

My first SLE attack nearly took my life and I had been warded multiple times (including in the ICU) at Hospital Selayang and have missed school for a few months.

Hospital charges for non-citizens were hefty which my father’s low income could ill afford. Upon our repeated appeals for help from numerous people, thankfully, the Health Ministry waived the hospital charges until I was 16 years old.

Soon, I will turn 17 in September 2024 and my regular hospital charges will be very high from then on.

SLE is a life-threatening illness that requires lifelong regular hospital follow-ups and medications to control its flare-ups.

I dread to think of how my father will bear the regular high medical expenses and worse still, if another critical SLE episode happens to me after this, if my citizenship is not forthcoming before the end of this year.

Soon, I will be finishing school and I wish to pursue higher education and get a job to lessen the burden on my father who needs to care for his aged parents too.

Being stateless, the opportunity to further my studies or even to get employment is almost impossible. I can’t even do normal things like all young people like me can do, such as getting a bank account, learning to drive, doing part-time jobs after school to earn and others.

Such a bleak and hopeless future lies ahead of me without citizenship and MyKad.

With news of the Home Ministry having processed 8,000 cases of stateless people brings a bright ray of hope to me.

Step in the right direction

This light at the end of the tunnel was all thanks to our Madani government and particularly,

Despite being on the job for 11 months, his efforts must be greatly applauded when previous governments and ministers could not resolve this issue for decades.

Kudos to the Madani government under the leadership of our Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. My prayer every day is that our much-deserved citizenship for all stateless persons will be granted to relieve us of our current sufferings.

I have high hopes that it will happen soon and I can’t wait for this moment of truth - holding my citizenship document for the very first time.

With that, I can proudly proclaim myself as a Malaysian and faithfully and loyally contribute towards my family and Malaysia. Wish all stateless people well.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.