The People's Volunteer Corps (Rela) has come under fire after a DAP parliamentarian and netizens found that they were registered as a member of the corps without their knowledge.
This came after a link to check one’s membership went viral on social media and some who filled in their identity card number discovered that they had been part of the corps since 2011.
Among them were former youth and sports deputy minister Steven Sim and his wife, with the DAP MP saying that they even had membership numbers as well as a platoon code.
"How can this happen? Is this an automatic registration for all Malaysians? Because my wife is also a Rela member after a membership check," he said on Facebook today.
Netizens also expressed their anger and shock after they had unknowingly been made Rela members.
A Twitter user with the handle @nizambakeri said his wife was one of them.
"Just checked Rela's website. My name is not registered but my wife is. What is happening?" he tweeted.
Another netizen @M5Zoul shared that his elderly mother, now deceased, was also on the list.
"My late old mother is also here (registered as Rela member). The question is, if there is an allowance (as a member), (did) anyone get it?" he asked.
Netizens also flooded Rela's Facebook page, demanding the corps to pay the monthly allowance owed to them as members.
"Could all these Rela sign-ups mean that people have used your IC to claim Rela allowance?" asked Facebook user Luqman Hakim.
In response to the Facebook users, Rela said this may have resulted from a massive membership drive back in 2012.
“We were made to understand that a massive Rela membership campaign was done in 2012. Perhaps during that time, our department received a list of names that were registered straight into the system,” Rela was quoted as saying by the Malay Mail.
Anyone who wished to remove their unsolicited membership can do so by providing the necessary information to Rela, it said.
Malaysiakini has attempted to contact Rela for comment.
[More to follow] - Mkini
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