Nur Jazlan: RM1k fine for late registration of birth is negotiable

Deputy Home Minister Nur Jazlan Mohamed has clarified that the RM1,000 fine on late birth registrations is negotiable on a case-by-case basis and has criticised the opposition for “politicising” the fine.

Responding to criticism from the opposition about how the high fine would burden the poor, Nur Jazlan said the National Registration Department (NRD) allows for reductions, even exemptions for parents who were unable to afford the fine.

“The NRD director-general (Mohd Yazid Ramli) has leeway to reduce the fine if (it is) burdensome, but that is not the objective of the 60-day rule and fine.

“So far no parents have been fined that amount yet,” he said when contacted today.

He referred to a statement he previously issued saying that the fine could be “reduced or pardoned” by the registrar based on an existing guideline.

“This means there is space for negotiation for certain cases,” said the statement.

Yesterday, Nur Jazlan had announced that his ministry’s decision to increase the penalty from the previous RM50 came after the time frame given to register births was extended from 42 days to 60 days in August. The fine will be imposed in Peninsular Malaysia only.

Not punitive measure 

“The government has made a decision (to increase the penalties) after the amendments to the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1957 and the Adoption Act 1952, approved and passed by the Dewan Rakyat last year, which also stipulates that all births must be registered within 60 days, including illegitimate babies,” Bernama reported him as saying.

Nur Jazlan told Malaysiakini that the reason behind the decision was not as a punitive measure, but to “make parents aware that their child’s registration is important when it comes to citizenship issues and to not to affect their child’s future by not registering them at birth”.

He added that the NRD currently provides many avenues to ease compliance with the 60-day timeframe.

Birth registrations can be done at mobile NRD units, NRD offices nationwide as well as at Urban Transformation Centres (UTC) and Rural Transformation Centres (RTC) nationwide.

“It is not difficult to register a child within two months, if it is difficult the NRD will make it easy for them.

“The opposition should focus on helping the poor to be aware and assist in the registration. Not politicise the issue of the fine,” he added.

Aside from calling the fine a financial burden and comparing it to the peninsular’s RM1,000 minimum wage ruling, PKR Wanita chief Zuraida Kamaruddin previously questioned if the NRD had any authority to enforce a penalty that is not gazetted as law.

“Although the amendments were passed last year, the references made to penalties are vague and cannot be imposed merely on the word of the deputy home minister,” Zuraida had said.

Meanwhile, Kulai MP Teo Nie Ching warned that such a policy would not resolve the problem but instead result in more stateless children, as many parents were unable to afford the fine.- Mkini