It was a heart-wrenching letter. It touched the emotions of so many Malaysians and everyone appreciated the interest shown by the powers that be.
On Dec 27 last year, 10-year-old R Shivaani appealed to the prime minister after the Education Ministry denied her from entering school to continue her primary studies.
“I am asking Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to help me to go to school next year,” she wrote.
It must have tugged his heart as he knows the issues involved and how bureaucrats work.
In 2017, from behind the walls of Sungai Buloh prison, Anwar (then in the opposition) wrote: “The plight of stateless children in Malaysia is ‘appalling’ while the government’s indifference to it is ‘shameful’.
“The government has shown no interest or political will to resolve this matter. It is shameful that stateless children have to file legal actions and be dragged through a series of appeals simply to obtain the basic right of citizenship.”
Mr Prime Minister, many court cases are ongoing, and others are pending in the courts under your watch.
That may have been a digression but five days after that letter, on New Year’s Day, a 23-member Malaysian football team assembled at KLIA en route to Doha to play in the Asian Cup qualifiers.
The players and coaches looked fresh and in high spirits, as they took the opportunity to extend New Year greetings to fans and media personnel waiting at the airport, Bernama reported.
“Harimau Malaya is targeting to create history by qualifying for the round of 16 after failing to clear the group stage in the three editions they participated in,” the news agency said.
With the prime minister extending his best wishes to the team, it was thought it was morale-boosting, but when you lack the talent and skills, it matters little.
Money can’t buy success either but the footballing Gods in Malaysia are not short of novel ideas.
The fact that they did not qualify for the next stage and will return home later this week is moot.
Mini-UN team
The team that went to Doha was not entirely from Malaysia – it was a mini–United Nations of sorts – more than half were pendatang (immigrants) – as many like to label them.
Fourteen of them have foreign ancestry or were foreign-born.
They include Corbin Ong (Barbadian father), Dion Cools (Belgian father), Junior Eldstål (Swedish father), Brendan Gan (born in Australia), Matthew Davies (born in Australia), Endrick Dos Santos (born in Brazil), Paulo Josue (born in Brazil), Romel Morales (born in Colombia), Stuart Wilkin (born in England), Daniel Ting (born in England), Darren Lok (born in England), Dominic Tan (born in Singapore), Natxo Insa (born in Spain), and Mohamadou Sumareh (born in The Gambia).
Who are these people? I refer to them as journeymen, not footballers, who leave their home country where they will never find a place in the top tier where meritocracy, competence, and skills matter, to seek their fortunes on our shores.
How did they end up playing for Malaysia? Like instant noodles, there is also something called instant citizenship – courtesy of the generosity of the National Registration Department and the Home Ministry who are willing to, not even circumvent, but break the law.
Perhaps some influential people can make mountains move and flatten the obstacles along the way for a smooth journey.
From 2014 to 2021, 25 players have been naturalised, eight of whom had no stints with either Harimau Malaya or junior national teams.
Many more have since been made citizens including the present lot.
This means football officials have used their influence or pulled strings to get citizenship for players without meeting the basic prerequisites for their applications to be processed.
Can they all speak Malay?
Article 19(3) of the Federal Constitution states that: “The periods of residence in the Federation or the relevant part of it which are required for the grant of a certificate of naturalisation are periods which amount in the aggregate to not less than 10 years in the 12 years immediately preceding the date of the application for the certificate, and which include the 12 months immediately preceding that date.”
According to the Home Ministry’s website, citizenship by naturalisation is for those who fulfil the minimum residency requirements and have adequate knowledge of the Malay language (the residency requirement has been outlined above).
How many of these journeymen have been in Malaysia for more than 10 years and how many of them can speak the Malay language?
There are hundreds of foreign women married to Malaysians who are unable to get citizenship after umpteen years.
Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh who is passionate about women’s and children’s rights must address these anomalies and shed some light on this instant citizenship.
Come up with a list
Previously, I raised this issue and asked: “So, did the ministry breach its own rules and fast-track their applications? Was it not a dereliction of their duties or a case of tutup satu mata (close one eye)?”
So, who dispensed with the requirements and closed both eyes?
The home ministers since 2011 have been Hishammuddin Hussein, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Muhyiddin Yassin, Hamzah Zainudin, and Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.
Who among them approved and signed the citizenship papers for these journeymen?
In the name of transparency and accountability which this government has promised to uphold, can a full list, with dates and the approving minister, of those who became citizens without meeting the requirements be made public?
Or will the government (once again) fall back on the Official Secrets Act to keep citizens in the dark?
As for Shivaani, after that letter, the girl is back in school. Now you know they can work expeditiously if there is a nudge from the very top instead of procrastinating to avoid difficult questions. - Mkini
R NADESWARAN is a veteran journalist who writes on bread-and-butter issues. Comments: citizen.nades22@gmail.com.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.
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