Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, in defending an immigration officer on Monday, said Malaysians must know Bahasa Malaysia.
Responding to a case where a woman was allegedly scolded by an immigration officer for not knowing the national language, Saifuddin said the officer may have been suspicious of the woman's citizenship.
The woman said she was at the immigration office to renew her passport.
Saifuddin also referred to the Federal Constitution, which states that the Malay language is the official language.
However, checks found it is not a condition to renew a passport or retain citizenship.
It is only a condition for those seeking citizenship via naturalisation or registration, under specific circumstances.
According to the Federal Constitution, it is mentioned that "elementary knowledge of the Malay language" is required of those born before Merdeka Day (Aug 31, 1957) seeking to register as citizens.
"Adequate knowledge of the Malay language" is also among the requirements for those seeking Malaysian citizenship through naturalisation.
Conditions relate to parents' status, not language
This language requirement does not exist for those who can become citizens by operation of law.
According to the Federal Constitution, those born in the country between Merdeka Day (Aug 31, 1957) and Malaysia Day (Sept 16, 1963) are citizens by operation of law regardless of their parents' citizenship.
Those born on or after Malaysia Day are citizens by operation of law if either of their parents is Malaysian or a permanent resident, depending on certain conditions.
For example, according to the National Registration Department, a person is granted citizenship if their father is a Malaysian and mother is a foreigner, but only if the parents were married before the child was born.
None of the other conditions for citizenship for Malaysian-born individuals, or those born in Malaysia or permanent resident parents, involve proficiency in the language.
No language requirement to renew passport
Anyone who is already a citizen also need not prove their Bahasa Malaysia proficiency to retain their citizenship, including when applying for or renewing their passports.
Checks on the Immigration Department website also do not make Bahasa Malaysia proficiency a condition for renewing one's passport.
The only qualification stated was that one must be a Malaysian citizen, and this is proven through showing an identity card or birth certificate.
Non-proficiency in Bahasa Malaysia is also not a reason to revoke citizenship.
However, it can be argued that it could be used to investigate whether citizenship was legally obtained, and if it should be retained.
According to the legal website AskLegal, Malaysian citizenships can be revoked if they are found to be obtained through fraud or an administrative mistake.
The other three reasons for revocation are:
the individual renounces the citizenship;
the individual takes on citizenship elsewhere; or
the individual is disloyal to the country, through various ways stated in Article 25.
Among examples provided in Article 25 include taking up an official post in another country's government without approval from the Malaysian government or living abroad for more than five years continuously and not registering with the Malaysian embassy there.
However, before the citizenship can be revoked, Article 26A states the person must be notified and they can choose whether they want to have a committee of inquiry investigate the case.
The committee is government-appointed, consisting of a chairperson and two members, and the state's final decision will be made based on the committee's findings. - Mkini
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