Making Ambiga a non-citizen

Okay, so that means you take back the citizenship from someone whom citizenship has been given. But was Ambiga GIVEN her citizenship? Did she apply for citizenship or is she automatically a citizen because she was born in Malaysia? 

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

(Bernama, 6 May 2012) - Ten non-governmental organisations (NGOs) here have urged the government to revoke the citizenship of Bersih co-chairman Datuk S. Ambiga and withdraw all honorary titles awarded to her and opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim for being involved in an illegal rally.

First read Article 9(1) of the Federal Constitution of Malaysia: No citizen shall be banished or excluded from the Federation. 

Okay, I admit I am no lawyer. But I do speak English. And my understanding of English is that NO CITIZEN can be made a ‘non-citizen’. Isn’t that what ‘no citizen shall be banished or excluded from the Federation’ means? 

So how do these people propose that the government revoke Amiga’s citizenship? If a citizen has acted treacherously against the nation, like what the Al Maunah people were alleged to have done, then they would be charged for treason and hanged, like what happened to the Al Maunah people. Treason is punishable by death.

However, these people are declaring Ambiga a traitor and are calling for the government to revoke her citizenship. But Article 9(1) of the Federal Constitution of Malaysia says that no citizen shall be banished or excluded from the Federation.

Now, what does the word ‘revoke’ mean? Revoke means to void or annul by recalling, withdrawing, reversing, take back, cancel, rescind, etc.

Okay, so that means you take back the citizenship from someone whom citizenship has been given. But was Ambiga GIVEN her citizenship? Did she apply for citizenship or is she automatically a citizen because she was born in Malaysia? 

I am not too sure about where Ambiga was born. Was she born in India and then she migrated to Malaysia and applied for citizenship? If so, then Ibrahim Ali and those of his ilk may have a case. Read Articles 25(1), 16A and 18 of the Federal Constitution (below).

A non-citizen can be made a citizen. And non-citizens who have been granted citizenship can have their citizenship withdrawn. I am not going to elaborate on this, as the details can be read below. But Articles 25(1), 16A and 18 do not talk about those who are automatically citizens by virtue of being born in Malaysia. It talks about those who applied for citizenship and were granted citizenship.

Let’s say that the government does withdraw Ambiga’s citizenship. That means she can no longer live in Malaysia. So where does she live? She would now be stateless. The government will have to escort her to the airport and force her to leave the country. But which country does she go to? 

First of all, she would no longer possess a Malaysian passport. That means, without a passport, she cannot leave the country. More importantly, without a passport, she cannot enter any other country.

So how does the government kick her out of Malaysia? As a stateless person she can no longer be allowed to remain in Malaysia. Hence she has to be kicked out. 

Do they then put her onto a small boat and get the marine police to escort her outside Malaysia’s territorial waters so that she can sail all over the world and try to get another country to allow her entry without a passport and with no known country of origin?

Come on lah, Melayu! Apa ni? Jangan buat malu semua Melayu. If you want to say something make sure it is a logical statement. I don’t see how the government can take away something that you never gave that person.

So what next? Raja Petra Kamarudin is opposing the government. Take away his ‘Raja’ title. He is a disgrace to the royal family. If I happen to be a Datuk you can take that title away since you gave it to me. But you can’t take away my ‘Raja’ title. You did not give it to me. I was born with it. In that same context how can you take away the citizenship of someone like Ambiga who was born with it?

You can take away Ambiga’s passport though. That I do not deny. A passport is a privilege, not a right. But Ambiga’s citizenship is not a privilege. It is her right. She was born a Malaysian just like I was born a Raja. And you cannot take away what we were born with. You can only take back what you gave us.

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Article 25. (1) The Federal Government may by order deprive of his citizenship any person who is a citizen by registration under Article 16A or a citizen by naturalisation if satisfied that he has shown himself by act or speech to be disloyal or disaffected towards the Federation.

Article 16A. Subject to Article 18, any person of or over the age of eighteen years who is on Malaysia Day ordinarily resident in the State of Sabah or Sarawak is entitled, upon making application to the Federal Government before September 1971, to be registered as a citizen if he satisfies the Federal Government -

• (a) that he has resided before Malaysia Day in the territories comprised in those States and after Malaysia Day in the Federation for periods which amount in the aggregate to not less than seven years in the ten years immediately preceding the date of the application, and which include the twelve months immediately preceding that date;

• (b) that he intends to reside permanently in the Federation;

• (c) that he is of good character; and

• (d) except where the application is made before September 1965, and the applicant has attained the age of forty-five years at the date of the application, that he has a sufficient knowledge of the Malay language or the English language or, in the case of an applicant ordinarily resident in Sarawak, the Malay language, the English language or any native language in current use in Sarawak.

Article 18.

• (1) No person of or over the age of eighteen years shall be registered as a citizen under this Constitution until he has taken the oath set out in the First Schedule.

• (2) Except with the approval of the Federal Government, no person who has renounced or has been deprived of citizenship under this Constitution or who has renounced or has been deprived of federal citizenship or citizenship of the Federation before Merdeka Day under the Federation of Malaya Agreement, 1948 shall be registered as a citizen under this Constitution.

• (3) A person registered as a citizen under this Constitution shall be a citizen by registration from the day on which he is so registered.