Chua Jui Meng was pushed, shoved after meeting with NRD: Witnesses

Chui Jui Meng was pushed and shoved by a group of men after a meeting at the National Registration Department in Putrajaya to call attention to the plight of stateless residents, according to fellow opposition members who attended the meeting.

Stateless residents protest – Photograph: Charles Santiago

The incident occurred as the seven opposition members were leaving after a meeting with the NRD Director General Jariah Mohd Said and other senior officers.

PKR’s N Surendran tweeted about the incident at 1.34pm.

When contacted, Klang MP Charles Santiago confirmed that there was pushing, shoving and harassment by a group of about 10 to 15 men, believed to be MIC Youth, inside the NRD building. “Chua appeared to be their target,” said Charles.

Charles expressed surprise that the men had been allowed in as others had been kept out.

MIC Youth information chief S Subramaniam has reportedly denied the allegations. “We were there as part of a special task force. Chua reacted harshly when one of our members asked what he had done for the community when he was in the cabinet,” he told the Free Malaysia Todayweb portal.

Earlier, a few hundred people had gathered in front of the National Registration Department (JPN) this morning. “JPN doors are literally closed for stateless Malaysians,” Santiago had reported at the scene. “A team of MPs are negotiating with police and the JPN senior team.”

Chua Jui Meng had also been tweeting about the gathering. “In Putrajaya to support d stateless & d fight for justice for d oppressed,” he had said. His last tweet was at 11.43am.

The whole issue of stateless residents requires a political solution, said Charles, as it was unlikely that NRD departmental procedures could resolve the issue. “They seem to have very little interest in resolving it.”

My own grandmother, who spent the last three decades of her life in Malaysia, passed away 13 years ago with only a red identity card. She grew up in India and after her marriage, settled in Singapore, where she lived for three decades, before relocating to Malaysia in the 1960s to be with her adult children.

So I can understand the predicament and insecurity that many of those in similar situations experience.

- anilnetto