11-Year-Old Boy Who Is A Victim Of Circumstances Desperately Wants To Be A Malaysian Citizen!

I truly sympathise for this boy, he is being bullied by his school friends all because he doesn’t own a MyKad or any other identification card for that matter. In the past two years, he had shown significant changes and it’s not the positives ones. According to his father, he is becoming more unsociable and his grades have dropped down by quite a lot.

This is all happening because he was born to a Malaysian father and Indonesian mother. Jia Yi who is about to turn 12 was not granted his citizenship as he was born a day before his parents registered their marriage.

Tan Ban Guan (father) apparently had been trying to get their marriage registered for months but kept facing difficulties but eventually, when they could do it at the National Registration Department in Ipoh on July 26, 2005, his wife was due for labour on the same day!

The couple even rushed back to the NRD after safely delivering the child but was brushed off by the officer as he was about to go home and was told to come the next day, which they did.

Jia Yi’s father who is a part-time mosaic layer and odd job worker had been trying to submit his son’s application for citizenship for 3 times over the last 4 years. The poor boy doesn’t even have Indonesian citizenship as his mother had not registered the boy’s birth in her country.

The boy now is just desperate to get his citizenship as his other 3 younger siblings have them. He is also a very good volleyball player according to his coach, but unfortunately, he can’t represent the State as he doesn’t have a place where he belongs to that is stated in a sheet of paper.

His parents are now worrying over his future!

“What’s going to happen when he comes of age?”

“He won’t be able to further his education, neither can he gain legal employment.”

Jia Yi is completely aware of his situation and according to The Star, this was what he had to say regarding the matter:

“I want to be a Malaysian like my siblings and friends. I am just like them, except that I do not have a MyKid.”

“I want to continue attending school and one day represent the country in volleyball.”

Hope Jia Yi gets his own MyKad soon and becomes an excellent volleyball player who will make Malaysia proud!