The Sabah National Registration Department discovers at least one forged identity card every two weeks.
Its director, Ismail Ahmad, told the royal commission of inquiry (RCI) on illegal immigrants in Sabah identity card forgery is widespread in the state.
"I don't remember the exact numbers, but almost every two weeks there will be cases of people being caught with forged identity cards," he said at the Kota Kinabalu court complex.
However, Ismail said, it is impossible to illegally obtain a genuine identity card now.
"I guarantee that there is no way it can happen, the work is all computerised now," he said.
He said all blue identity card applicants must have birth certificates to prove their citizenship.
Ismail told the RCI the state’s problems with genuine identity cards began in 1978, when genuine blue identity cards were illegally obtained from the NRD.
He said other than birth certificates, the NRD also accepted statutory declarations as a valid document of evidence that the applicant was born in Sabah.
He noted that at that time many Sabahans in the interior areas did not have birth certificates.
“So we accepted declarations signed by village heads and verified by the district officer.
However, the practice was stopped in 1987 when it was discovered there was abuse of power.
Ismail told the RCI that blue identity cards with expiry dates on them being circulated on the Internet were in fact green cards or temporary residence cards.
He told the RCI that for a time, the colour of the MyKad was the same blue.
“But all the cards had markers on them to indicate the type of card they were,” he said.
However, Ismail said, this caused confusion and the department made the temporary residence card green, the permanent resident card red and blue was only for citizens.
Living with “No Name” for 40 years
ReplyDeleteThe Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on illegal immigrants in Sabah was stunned when a witness told the panel that for 40 years, “No Name” was his name.
Mahat Ismail, 65, from Tawau told the inquiry he had lived with that name after an officer at the hospital where he was born filled his name as such.
"I asked my father, who was working at that hospital, why my birth certificate says that I am ‘no name?
ReplyDelete"He told me that on that day, he was busy working, running errands and had forgotten 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 but did not do anything," he testified at the inquirty being held at the Kota Kinabalu High Court.
Mahat, whose Suluk ancestors had lived in Sabah for several generations, said he studied until Form 5 and could speak English but only a smattering of the Suluk language.
ReplyDeleteHe only changed his name in the birth certificate in the 1980s when he wanted to apply for a passport.
Over the years, political parties had raised questions over voters whose name is ‘no name’, querying whether they were dubious voters.
RCI commissioner Tan Sri Herman Luping interjected and said people having “no name” as their given name was a common occurrence in Sabah.
ReplyDelete“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 who has since passed away," he said.
Conducting officer Jamil Aripin said that if Sabah were to recall all identity cards, genuine citizens with ‘no name’ as their name will have a hard time proving their nationality .
He added that similarly, many citizens of the older generation do not have birth certificates as their parents did not register their births.
ReplyDeleteFor example, the last witness for this session, Juak Borneo, 61, told the panel he did not possess a birth certificate as he was born on a boat.
"Born on a boat"
ReplyDeleteThe village head of Bangau-Bangau from the ethnic Bajau Laut people also admitted that many of his community did not possess citizenship documents as they spent most of their lives at sea.
"I was born on a boat, I had no identity documents before this. It was only when the National Registration Department (NRD) officials visited our village that we were registered as citizens.
Juak told the panel, led by former Sabah and Sarawak Chief Justice Tan Sri Steve Shim Lip Kiong that the NRD officials visited his village in the 1960s.
He also said that their children faced difficulties in attending school as they did not have any identification documents.
ReplyDelete"We lived a turbulent life at sea, going wherever the winds and waves took us. Sometimes the wind blew us in the direction of one island, and then in the direction of another island."
Of the 5,000 Bajau villagers in the community, Juak estimated that only about 3,000 of its ethnic population possessed red identity cards.
"If we went to the mainland to buy groceries and necessities, we will be detained and our family will cry as if there had been a death in the family."
ReplyDelete"For the Bajau Laut community, being detained by the authorities is one of our worst nightmares."
"We still feel that we are citizens of Malaysia, although some of us do not have any Malaysian identification documents."
He expressed hope that the government would consider their case and enable the Bajau Laut people to be given citizenship.
ReplyDelete"I am concerned about the future of my people, in my capacity as the village headman, I worry about the future generations of Bajau Laut people who will not be able to do anything without identity cards.
The issue of Project IC which began in the late 1970s has sparked anger among many quarters when foreign immigrants were given identity cards to allow them to vote in the general election.
ReplyDeleteThe RCI has also exposed several witnesses who admitted that they had been given valid identity cards in an illegal manner, including tracing fake identity cards.
The RCI into illegal immigrants in Sabah will resume on July 15. - July 5, 2013.
Testifying 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.
ReplyDelete"Forgery (of the document) is always there," he said, when asked by the Conducting Officer Manoj Kumar on whether problematic and dubious ICs still exist.
Ismail said all the problematic ICs are kept at its headquarters in Kuala Lumpur and not here but the department keeps birth and death certificates here.
ReplyDeleteHe believed the holders of dubious temporary IC receipts are still out there and the department is waiting for them to come forward and return the receipts.
Jabatan yang terlibat harus disiasat terlebih dahulu.
DeleteSuruhanjaya Siasatan Diraja (RCI) Mengenai Pendatang Tanpa Izin Di Sabah pada Jumaat diberitahu pemberian dokumen pengenalan diri kepada masyarakat Pala'u atau 'sea gypsies' akan mencegah masyarakat itu daripada menimbulkan besar kepada masyarakat lain pada masa akan datng.
ReplyDeletemasyarakat tersebut tidak mempunyai pendidikan dan mampu melakukan kegiatan tidak baik seperti mencuri semata-mata untuk mencari nafkah hidup.
ReplyDeleteApakah syarat untuk mendapatkan kewarganegaraan? Keadaan sekarang seperti sesiapa pun boleh mendapat ic tanpa syarat.
Deletebimbang dengan nasib masyarakat Pala'u. Mereka daif. Takut generasi (Pala'u) akan datang akan ketinggalan.
ReplyDelete"Mereka sanggup menjelajah jauh untuk cari makan dan apabila mereka melihat pembangunan yang orang lain nikmati, kita khuatir mereka juga akan irihati dan melakukan kemusnahan harta benda
ReplyDeleteBenar, golongan ini sanggup buat apa-apa sahaja jiak diberi manfaat.
Delete, masyarakat Pala'u, yang tinggal di perairan, mempunyai kebolehan mendayung perahu ke tempat jauh dan mereka boleh ditemui di perairan Malaysia, Filipina dan Indonesia
ReplyDeletecadangkan agar kerajaan mengambil tindakan tegas terhadap pihak yang terlibat dalam pengeluaran kad pengenalan (IC) palsu kepada pandatang asing.
ReplyDeletepihak terbabit dikatakan menderhaka kepada negara dan harus dibuang negeri atau diisytihar muflis atau dibekukan aset mereka.
ReplyDelete"Kita jangan lagi berlembut dengan mereka. Kalau di negara lain, ada yang boleh hukum bunuh
mencadangkan agar IC sah yang dikeluarkan kepada pendatang asing ditarik balik.
ReplyDeleteJelasnya, langkah itu boleh menunjukkan keseriusan dan ketelusan kerajaan dalam menangani masalah itu
Menterinya, Datuk Seri Dr. Ahmad Zahid Hamidi berkata, gejala pemalsuan kad UNCHR dikesan semakin berleluasa dan pihaknya memandang serius perkara tersebut memandangkan kemudahan yang diberikan kerajaan dieksploitasikan.
ReplyDeletejika pemegang kad UNCHR palsu berjaya dikesan kerajaan akan berhubung dengan negara asal masing-masing bagi membincangkan bentuk tindakan selanjutnya yang perlu diambil termasuk menghantar mereka pulang.
ReplyDeleteTerdapat pihak tidak bertanggungjawab mengambil kesempatan menawarkan Kad UNCHR palsu kepada warga asing, jadi kita akan membanteras masalah ini daripada terus berleluasa.
ReplyDeleteBuat masa ini, kita tidak mempunyai jumlah sebenar kad UNCHR yang dipalsukan, kementerian juga akan memperhebat penguatkuasaan untuk mengesan pemilik kad UNCHR palsu
ReplyDeleteantara perkara lain yang dibincangkan dalam pertemuan tersebut ialah mengenai aspek layanan kerajaan kepada mereka yang diberikan kad UNCHR secara sah sebagai tanda pengenalan diri di negara ini.
ReplyDeleteSelain itu, katanya, kerajaan juga memutuskan setiap anak kepada pemilik kad UNCHR tidak secara automatik menjadi warganegara.
ReplyDeleteMajlis Keselamatan Negara (MKN) dan kementerian akan mencari mekanisme lain bagi memutuskan kedudukan pemegang kad UNCHR selepas mereka melepasi had tempoh berada di negara ini atau selepas mereka tamat dalam perkhidmatan di sektor-sektor tertentu
ReplyDeleteBank Negara Malaysia's (BNM) new rules restricting personal and property loans to a maximum loan period, will not impede domestic growth, as it has a primary basis supported by various sectors.
ReplyDeleteSecond Finance Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah said the country's economic growth was also dependent on consumption (spending) and private sector investment alongside government spending.
ReplyDeleteAhmad Husni said the new move by BNM, is expected to see a reduction in loans, but it will not impact overall spending and the private sector, as well as government spending which had its own overall basis.
ReplyDeleteif there was low affordability, there are some who will borrow from institutions outside formal banking and this is not a good practice, leading to problems, and the government wants to strengthen the formal economic system as it is now.
ReplyDeleteAhmad Husni said BNM's initiatives which are effective immediately, is also capable of changing the spending culture to one that is more positive.
ReplyDeleteHe said it was worrying when BNM's study showed that as a result of easily securing personal loans and a long repayment period, the Malaysians involved were having a lower "take home pay".
ReplyDeleteThe government, through the human resources ministry, targets to reduce workplace-related accidents to three in 1,000 workers by 2015, as compared to 3.31 in every 1,000 workers last year.
ReplyDeleteKadar ini memerlukan kerjasama semua majikan untuk meningkat lagi kesedaran kepentingan keselamatan di tempat kerja.
DeleteMinister Datuk Richard Riot said the government's commitment in occupational health and safety would improve Malaysia's image and international trade as foreign and local companies become confident with the government's concern on labour.
ReplyDeleteRiot said the number of occupational accidents, whether commuting accidents or accidents at the workplace, as reported by Socso last year, stood at 61,552 cases as compared to 59,897 cases in 2011, indicating a 2.67 per cent increase.
ReplyDeletecommuting accidents increased from 41.42 per cent in 2011 to 42.66 per cent last year, while accidents at the workplace showed a drop
ReplyDeleteKeselamatan harus diutamakan.
DeletePairin, who is also the Deputy Chief Minister, said there are many issues that are not clear about the statistics in this country because there are many illegal immigrants who do not have documents, false documents are genuine or has obtained through dubious means.
ReplyDeletePairin stated that the government needs to know who the genuine Malaysians
ReplyDeleteMyKad is the passport to the people of Sabah who are qualified, they are like scholarships and not be abused by those who do not qualify, stressed Pairin
ReplyDeleteit was announced on March 13 that the RCI will be extended for six months to September.
ReplyDeletepreviously, RCI was given to complete its investigation on March 21.
ReplyDeleteSuruhanjaya Siasatan Diraja (RCI) bagi menangani masalah pendatang asing tanpa izin di negeri Sabah telah ditubuhkan oleh Perdana Menteri Malaysia Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak pada 1 Jun 2012 . RCI adalah hasil pandangan rakyat dan kerajaan Barisan Nasional. Ia membabitkan kewarganegaraan, keselamatan, sosio ekonomi, kesihatan dan politik. Jabatan Peguam Negara telah diamanahkan untuk mengemukakan cadangan Terma Rujukan (TOR) dan draf asas telah disediakan.
ReplyDelete14 Jan 2013, prosiding RCI mengenai kebanjiran pendatang asing di negeri Sabah bermula dan digemparkan dengan keterangan beberapa bekas kakitangan dan pegawai kanan Jabatan Pendaftaran Negara(JPN) bahawa mereka diminta memproses permohonan kad pengenalan(IC) kepada rakyat asing.
ReplyDeleteSeramai 20 penjenayah tahanan ISA yang ditahan di Kem Kamunting di Perak terbabit dengan pemalsuan dokumen kad pengenalan dan pasport. Operasi menahan mereka yang terlibat dengan sindiket pengeluarkan kad pengenalan Biru di Sabah berlaku pada tahun 1995 untuk mengaut keuntungan peribadi. Pada masa itu ramai individu ditahan melalui ISA termasuk para pegawai JPN dan individu tertentu. Oleh sebab itu, Kerajaan meningkatkan kualiti pengeluaran kad pengenalan yang sedang diguna pakai oleh rakyat. Usaha kerajaan memperkenalkan penggunaan sistem kad bermutu tinggi seperti pengenalan kad pintar pelbagai guna atau Goverment Multipurpose Card secara berperingkat-peringkat dijangka dapat mengatasi isu pemalsuan kad pengenalan.
ReplyDeleteNamun kita tidak patut tersalah anggap akan kenyataan bekas kakitangan dan pegawai kanan JPN tersebut. Bekas Perdana Menteri, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad mengakui mengetahui mengenai proses pemberian status kerakyatan kepada pendatang asing di Sabah. Beliau berkata kad pengenalan itu diberikan kepada mereka yang memenuhi kriteria ditetapkan dan mengambil kira syarat-syarat kelayakan berdasarkan peruntukan undang-undang sedia ada.
ReplyDeleteBeberapa pelarian Filipina memberi keterangan di hadapan RCI bagi menyiasat masalah pendatang tanpa izin di negeri Sabah. Mereka ini merupakan di kalangan mangsa pelarian perang di selatan Filipina sekitar tahun 1970an dan telah pun mendapat kad pengenalan setelah menetap di negeri Sabah. Mereka memberitahu kepada pihak RCI bahawa tiada mana-mana pihak yang membantu mereka bagi mendapatkan kad pengenalan.
Dari tahun 1990 hingga sekarang, Kerajaan telah mengusir 446,173 pendatang tanpa dokumen ke negara asal mereka. Angka tersebut adalah termasuk pelarian yang tidak mempunyai dokumen yang sah. Walaupun sukar kerajaan telah mengambil tindakan peguatkuasaan dan berusaha menangani isu berkaitan dengan bersungguh-sungguh.
ReplyDeleteSesungguhnya, kerajaan komited untuk mencari jalan penyelesaian terbaik kepada isu pendatang tanpa izin (PATI) di negeri Sabah meskipun ia merupakan satu masalah besar yang amat mencabar. Kerajaan juga melihat perkara itu dengan serius dan mengambil tindakan yang sewajarnya.(18 Jan 2013)