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28th September, 2008
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Keadilan deputy chairperson Christina Liew has questioned the National Registration Department’s (NRD) decision to accord permanent resident (PR) status instead of citizenship to Yong Lee Hua@Piang Lin, a 78-year-old native Sino-Kadazan from here.
“We consider the NRD’s action as undermining the rights of native Sabahans,” she said In a statement issued here yesterday, she also called for the replacement of the NRD director with a Sabahan immediately so as to better protect the rights of Sabahans.
Christina said Sabahans especially Bumiputeras and natives to be united.
“We ask the BN component parties to leave the coalition if this matter is not resolved within a month. Sabahans must be united to defend their rights,” she urged.
Yong’s case was recently highlighted by Assistant Resource Development and Information Technology Minister, Donald Peter Mojuntin who is also United Pasokmomogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation’s (UPKO) bureau chief for citizenship and security.
According to news reports, Yong’s life had been turned upside down as a result of the NRD’s oversight and incompetence. Her nightmare began when she lost her IC at a supermarket at Penampang Baru on Feb 12 and on the same day she lodged a police report and subsequently on Feb 26, applied for a replacement IC at the NRD office in Donggongon.
Several months later, she went to collect her replacement IC but was given a red IC. When asked why she was given a red IC, the lady officer said for senior citizens who lost their IC, the department normally replaced them with red ICs. Yong didn’t find anything amiss with the officer’s explanation until she reached home when her children told her a red IC was issued to people with PR status.
With the help of her children, they brought the matter up with the NRD together with supporting documents such as her native certificate issued by the Native Court on Sept 24, 1963, bank books and passport.
The NRD officer admitted there could have been an error but instead of rectifying it, Yong was asked to “apply for Malaysian citizenship” which she duly complied with by submitting an application form to the office on July 2, last year..
Her problem did not end there because soon after, her bank accounts at Amanah Saham Nasional and Alliance Bank were frozen making her unable to withdraw money for her daily expenses.
Fluent in Kadazan and Chinese, the mother of seven sons and one daughter could no longer travel outside the country as she could not renew her expired passport.
Strangely, she was allowed to cast her vote at Peak Nam Thong Kindergarten during the recent March 8 general election using her driving licence as identification document since her record in the polling list was still intact. But her identification records at the Immigration Department, however, had mysteriously “disappeared”.
Now, everywhere she goes, she has to use her driving licence as proof of her identity because she is too embarrassed with her predicament.
She now feared that her “new status” would have serious implication on her sons and daughter.
Upko’s deputy president Datuk Seri Wilfred Mojilip Bumburing had described the case as simply outrageous and said it warranted the party to review its position in the BN if this was found to be not just an isolated case.
Wilfred also said that if the NRD had committed a genuine mistake, it should have accord Yong the Malaysian citizenship right away.
He added that if the NRD was unable to handle Yong’s case, Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar must intervene.
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