NRD made Indian national a citizen using false SD

An Indian national obtained Malaysian citizenship from the Sabah National Registration Department (NRD) by simply using a false statutory declaration, the royal commission of inquiry (RCI) into Sabah immigrants was told today.

Nur Mohd Ibrahim, who hails from Tamil Nadu, India, said he entered Sabah in 1981 and soon after applied for a blue identity card on the urging of Filipino colleagues at a restaurant where he worked.

However, his first application using a false SD was rejected.

In 1983, he tried his luck again, using the same method, and was granted a blue identity card in 1987. This was merely six years after he had set foot on Malaysian soil.

The SD stated that Nur Mohd was born in Kinarut, Papar.

Nur Mohd told the RCI that he registered as a voter in 1991 - eight years after he became citizen. According to him, he has voted four times in the state seat of Likas.

In 2001, the Election Court had ruled that former Sabah chief minister Yong Teck Lee's(left) victory in Likas null and void due to the prevalence of illegal immigrants on the electoral roll.

Yong had won the seat at the Sabah 1999 state election and the results was challenged by two defeated candidates.

Then High Court judge Muhammad Kamil Awang, who revealed he was pressured by his superiors to dismiss the application, said in his judgment: "The instances of non-citizens and phantom voters in the electoral roll as disclosed in this trial may be the tip of the iceberg.

"It could not be denied that the registration of voters in the Likas electoral roll was in contravention of the law. No one including the government department is above the law."

‘Sabah chief minister is ... Mahathir’

Nur Mohd said the SD he used had been drafted by a commissioner of oaths in Kepayan and his Filipino friends taught him to list a place in Sabah as a his birth place.

"Even though I got my blue identity card, I was scared to use it because I was not sure if it was valid or not until I registered as a voter in 1991," he said.

Queried by conducting officer Jamil Aripin if he knew this was tantamount to cheating the NRD, Nur Mohd remained silent.

He then proceeded to test the witness' knowledge of Malaysia, and Nur Mohd managed to name the three most recent prime ministers without trouble.

However, when asked who the chief minister of Sabah is, he replied: "Mahathir" before withdrawing his statement as he invited giggles around the room.

It is unclear if Nur Mohd's identity card was part of any illegal operation but the NRD rules were relaxed in the 1980s to accept SDs as identification documents in applications for blue identity cards.

This rule was abolished in 1987, and since then, only birth certificates have been accepted.