Blue ICs not for illegitimate children

Will K Suriaakala, who was an abandoned baby and is now 26, ever get her MyKad?

PETALING JAYA: The National Registration Department (NRD) is bound by the law to reject applications for blue identity cards from individuals who cannot prove that their parents were citizens and married.

This was the explanation given by a NRD spokesman in a comment on the plight of 26-year-old K Suriaakala as reported by FMT.

He said an applicant for a blue identity card must prove that he or she was not born out of wedlock.

Suriaakala holds a green temporary identity card, but claims she is a Malaysian whose parents abandoned her when she was a baby.

She said NRD had repeatedly rejected her application for a blue MyKad although she presented copies of her parents’ identity cards. Officials told her she needed to produce their marriage certificate.

Her green card expires in 2016, and her status as a temporary resident makes it difficult for her to apply for a job or a course of study.

“The complainant was given a temporary identity card because when her birth was registered, there was no information provided on the citizenship status of her parents,” the spokesman said. “A temporary IC is given to individuals who are born in Malaysia but whose citizenship cannot be ascertained.”

Green identity cards are issued under Regulation 3(c)(ii) of the National Registration Act 1959 and National Registration Regulations 1990 (amended 2007).

PKR vice-president N Surendran, who has pledged to help Suriaakala resolve her problem, said today he would continue to raise the issue with the authorities.