SABAH RCI A man who was born in Tawau, Sabah said he had lived with his name being stated ‘No Name’ for almost 40 years, the royal commission of inquiry on immigrants in Sabah heard today.
Mahat Ismail, 65 said he has had to live with the name after an officer at the hospital where he was born filled his name in his birth certificate as ‘No Name’.
“I asked my father, who was working at that hospital, why did my birth certificate say that I am ‘No Name’?
“He explained that on that day, he was busy working, running up and down at the hospital, so he forgot to register my name.
“So the registrar just filled in my name as ‘No Name’, and when my father collected the birth certificate he was surprised to find that my name was ‘no name’,” he testified at the Kota Kinabalu court complex, as the room burst into laughter.
As a result of that, Mahat said it was only until the 1980s that he was able to finally rectify his name to the one that he has now.
Before this, political parties had raised question over voters whose name is ‘no name’, querying whether they were dubious voters.
Mahat Ismail, 65 said he has had to live with the name after an officer at the hospital where he was born filled his name in his birth certificate as ‘No Name’.
“I asked my father, who was working at that hospital, why did my birth certificate say that I am ‘No Name’?
“He explained that on that day, he was busy working, running up and down at the hospital, so he forgot to register my name.
“So the registrar just filled in my name as ‘No Name’, and when my father collected the birth certificate he was surprised to find that my name was ‘no name’,” he testified at the Kota Kinabalu court complex, as the room burst into laughter.
As a result of that, Mahat said it was only until the 1980s that he was able to finally rectify his name to the one that he has now.
Before this, political parties had raised question over voters whose name is ‘no name’, querying whether they were dubious voters.
He said a letter acknowledging the correction was subsequently issued to him and he was finally able to make a passport.
‘Common happening’
At this, RCI commissioner Herman Luping concurred that is was a common occurrence in Sabah.
“I know a man who had his name in the birth certificate written as ‘no name’ and he is now a prominent politician, and also a woman had passed away and had a name,” he said.
Conducting officer Jamil Aripin (left) later explained that if Sabah were to do a full recall of identity cards, genuine citizens who hold such ‘no name’ birth certificates will have a hard time proving their citizenship.
He added that similarly, many citizens of the older generation do not have birth certificates to prove their citizenship as they did not register their births in the old days.
Mahat, whose Suluk ancestors had lived in Sabah for a few generations, said he received his education until Form 5 and could speak English but can only manage “broken Suluk”.
However, he said the intrusion in Lahad Datu by the Suluks from the Philippines, or known as Tausugs in that country, has hurt Suluk Sabahans.
“Now the Suluks don’t even dare to speak Suluk, they have been stamped as ‘terrorists’,” he said.
Mahat added that those who had facilitated immigrants to illegally obtain citizenship should also be charged with treason and have their property confiscated.
“In other countries, they would have been killed,” he said.
‘Common happening’
At this, RCI commissioner Herman Luping concurred that is was a common occurrence in Sabah.
“I know a man who had his name in the birth certificate written as ‘no name’ and he is now a prominent politician, and also a woman had passed away and had a name,” he said.
Conducting officer Jamil Aripin (left) later explained that if Sabah were to do a full recall of identity cards, genuine citizens who hold such ‘no name’ birth certificates will have a hard time proving their citizenship.He added that similarly, many citizens of the older generation do not have birth certificates to prove their citizenship as they did not register their births in the old days.
Mahat, whose Suluk ancestors had lived in Sabah for a few generations, said he received his education until Form 5 and could speak English but can only manage “broken Suluk”.
However, he said the intrusion in Lahad Datu by the Suluks from the Philippines, or known as Tausugs in that country, has hurt Suluk Sabahans.
“Now the Suluks don’t even dare to speak Suluk, they have been stamped as ‘terrorists’,” he said.
Mahat added that those who had facilitated immigrants to illegally obtain citizenship should also be charged with treason and have their property confiscated.
“In other countries, they would have been killed,” he said.
Libraries need to be given a new breath of life in order to continue to develop reading culture, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
ReplyDeleteTHE forgery of Malaysian ICs is still going on even in the national capital, Kuala Lumpur, said National Registration Department (NRD) Sabah Director Ismail Ahmad at the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on illegal immigrants.
ReplyDeleteTestifying as the 163rd witness, he said, a syndicate issuing the documents still exists in the country as his department detects one forged Malaysian IC including in the form of the plastic Malaysia blue IC, every two weeks.
Manoj mentioned an allegation by Datuk Dr. Jeffrey Kitingan and a former NRD Deputy Director Yakub Damsal, who claimed that an immigrant could simply go to the NRD office and apply for the Malaysian IC.
ReplyDeleteIsmail say there is no way any individual can do that as a birth certificate is needed for an applicant to apply for the IC since 2011 until now.
In addition, he said, it is mandatory for an applicant to have a birth certificate when applying for the IC since 1987 when Statutory Declaration and Status Certificate (Sijil Taraf) had been banned to avoid abuse of process and power.
If birth certificates cannot be produced, he said, late registration birth certificates can be used, provided that the document has been verified and endorsed by the Magistrate Court.
ReplyDeleteTo a question by Datuk John Sikayun who is holding a watching brief for Sabah Law Association (SLA), Ismail said the department recorded a total of 225,808 late registrations for birth certificates from 1963 to 2012.
Of the figure, a total of 147,273 are documents for adults who registered late and the remaining 78,853 are for children below 12.
On green IC holders who renewed the document upon expiry after five years, Ismail said the department will continue to renew the document when the holders come forward to renew it even after one or two years later.
Ismail said this in response to the RCI panel member Tan Sri Henry Chin who also recommended that NRD have a mechanism to detect the green ICs holders who fail to renew the document.
ReplyDeleteManoj also proposed that the old Malaysian blue ICs be surrendered to the department when the applicants are issued with new MyKads.
He said there was a case where a person was found possessing the old Malaysian blue IC which it had been punched with holes and another Malaysian blue IC during the General Election.
Mustahil ic lama masih diperolehi.
DeleteJPN Sabah mendapati sekurang-kurangnya satu kad pengenalan palsu setiap dua minggu.
ReplyDeletePengarah JPN, Ismail Ahmad, memberitahu RCI mengenai PTI di Sabah bahwaa kad pemalsuan IC adalah meluas di negeri ini.
ReplyDeleteBukan sahaja Sabah tetapi seluruh negara.
Deletetambah beliau, "Saya tidak ingat angka yang tepat, tetapi hampir setiap dua minggu akan ada kes-kes orang yang ditangkap dengan kad pengenalan palsu,"
ReplyDeleteWalau bagaimanapun, Ismail berkata, ia adalah mustahil untuk mendapatkan IC tulen secara haram sekarang.
ReplyDeletebeliau memberi jaminan bahawa tidak ada cara sedemikian boleh berlaku kerana semuanya dilakukan secara berkomputer sudah
ReplyDeleteThe person in power can do and issue to anybody.
Deletehal mcm ini harus dberi prhatian.. jgn biar begitu mudah dokumen pengenalan diri dimiliki oleh warga asing.
ReplyDeleteSetiap pemohon harus dinilai dan dikenalpasti latar belakangnya sebelum diberi mykad.
DeleteSaluran yang manakah PATI ini memperolehi mykadnya?
ReplyDelete