Man finds out he’s ‘dead’ while lodging police report

 

Senai assemblyman Wong Bor Yang (left) with Low Choo Choon, 71, who found out he was ‘dead’ when filing a police report in January. (Wong Bor Yang pic)

PETALING JAYA: A 71-year-old man in Skudai, Johor, found out that he had been listed as a “dead” man after attempting to lodge a police report.

According to China Press, Low Choo Choon, a hearse driver, was trying to lodge a report after losing a deed to a gravesite that was under his name when policemen informed him of his “death”.

Low said he and his wife had purchased a two-person gravesite about two decades ago. He then wanted to transfer the deed to a relative, with financial considerations prompting him to opt for a cremation package instead.

In January, he realised that he had lost the deed, which forced him to lodge a police report. However, he failed to file the report since he was deemed “dead.”

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While he had lodged a complaint with the national registration department (JPN) following advice from police, Low said he had yet to get an update from JPN though the department said it would process the change in his status within two weeks.

He added that his son-in-law had contacted JPN multiple times over the issue, but failed to get answers.

Low said he also could not get his road tax renewed when he went to the road transport department twice, though he managed to renew it for half a year after making multiple requests.

“I have been working at a funeral home for so many years but I never thought that I would be listed as ‘dead’.

“If my (status) does not get updated, I worry that my bank account and assets will get frozen,” he said at a press conference with Senai assemblyman Wong Bor Yang.

Low had sought Wong’s help over the matter late last month.

Both of them had been scheduled to meet the Johor national registration department’s investigation team today but it was postponed after its director was placed under quarantine.

However, with Wong’s help, the investigation team’s director handed over Low’s application documents to the department to speed up the process.

Since Low has been classified as “dead”, he was also unable to cast his ballot at the Johor state elections in March, leaving him ruing his failure to fulfil his responsibility as a Malaysian.

His daughter had tried to check his voter status online, which listed him as having “no records”, though he had no issues during the 14th general election in May 2018. - FMT