Saya Juga Anak Malaysia: A Stateless Teen’s Citizenship Journey

Butterflies crashed violently in 19-year-old Priscilla Tang’s stomach as she waited outside the National Registration Department (JPN) office–moments away from fulfilling her lifelong dream. After seven years, she could finally retrieve her identity card (IC), regaining her Malaysian citizenship.

Adopted by a Malaysian-Chinese couple when she was a newborn, Priscilla grew up not knowing the origins of her birth and the identity of her biological parents. Nevertheless, as she possessed a valid birth certificate and certified adoption papers, she was equipped with a MyKid, an identity card for Malaysian children under 12. 

However, when she turned 12 in 2018, her world crumbled when she could not register for a MyKad, also known as the Blue IC, an identity card for Malaysians aged 12 and above.  In a flash, the country she had called ‘home’ was no longer ‘home’, despite being born and raised in Malaysia.

Priscilla shared how her adoption papers, which were filed in the old system, failed to get transferred to the new filing system. As a result, she was classified as undocumented. All her information was lost to the void. Since then, she had become stateless.

“I remember witnessing my mother being stopped by a JPN officer, and he told her that I couldn’t get an IC due to my statelessness,” she recalled.

The United Nations’ 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, defines a stateless person as someone who is ‘not recognised as a national by any state under the operation of its law’, with people under 18 considered a stateless child. Reports have estimated that around 12,000 to 16,000 people, including children, in Peninsular Malaysia are stateless. In East Malaysia, the number of stateless people remains unknown.

Based on a joint submission report to the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) by various local and international child rights and equality non-governmental organisations (NGOs), foundlings, or abandoned children, are the most vulnerable to statelessness, making it challenging for them to acquire Malaysian citizenship as they are unable to trace their parentage. Even if a foundling is adopted, the 1952 Adoption Act doesn’t specifically cover the transfer of citizenship from adoptive parents to adopted children. 

Instead, adoptive parents are required to help their adopted children apply for citizenship through registration via the discretionary Article 15A of the Federal Constitution, with the determination of citizenship based on the administrative decisions of JPN. However, the lengthy process, accompanied by the lack of clear and consistent administrative procedures, creates significant barriers for adoptive families. 

“Statelessness was something I couldn’t grasp at that moment, but I got to learn more about it during my teenage years,” she said.

Adolescence for Priscilla was a time of emotional turmoil and missed opportunities, and she found herself constantly drowning in confusion and sorrow. As she navigated through puberty and statelessness, she faced various challenges that denied her access in certain areas and hindered her from fulfilling her full potential.

“I couldn’t do a lot of things that normal teenagers could do, like opening a bank account, applying for part-time jobs, getting a driver’s license as well as attending networking and volunteering events.

“Applying for colleges and external scholarships after graduating high school was also tough even though I obtained good grades.

“I had to forgo my dream university, which was devastating because I worked hard to meet the admission requirements but was rejected because I didn’t have an IC,” she explained.

Fortunately, Priscilla was able to enrol into a private college in Subang Jaya, where she is currently pursuing a Bachelor’s in Mass Communication.

“I am very grateful that I got accepted despite not having an IC as now I have the chance to continue tertiary education,” she said.

The process of applying for an IC was a lengthy and exhausting one for both Priscilla and her mother. Without legal expertise, they were thrust into a complex cycle of applications and rejections. 

Despite a second rejection for her IC application at 14, Priscilla and her mother refused to give up and persevered, supporting each other through the journey. When they successfully obtained the court adoption papers to be filed into the new system when she was 16, Priscilla applied for an IC once more.

Finally, at 19 years old, an official letter regarding her application arrived in the mail, and they immediately made a trip to JPN in high spirits, mixed with nervousness.

“At the counter, I received the decision letter, and I didn’t understand the contents of the letter at first, so I didn’t know if my application officially got approved.

“It was not until my mother translated the contents that everything finally sank in, and both of us hugged each other and burst into tears.

“After so many years, I am finally recognised as a Malaysian citizen. I can finally be acknowledged as an ‘Anak Malaysia’,” she expressed tearfully. 

As she held the physical Blue IC in hand upon collecting it after two months, she was overwhelmed with happiness–a bittersweet victory after a long battle. 

“I am extremely grateful to the government for considering my application and granting me citizenship,” she said.

Statelessness remains a humanitarian crisis in Malaysia, with many people still left in the dark, deprived of basic rights due to lack of documentation. Although the government has made advances in addressing the issue, as proven by the recent passing of a bill which grants automatic citizenship to children born overseas to Malaysian mothers, they have yet to holistically address other forms of statelessness, including foundlings, children of mixed nationality marriages, indigenous people such as the Bajau Laut community, as well as refugees and irregular migrants. 

To facilitate these groups’ access to citizenship, the government should work towards clarifying and streamlining the processes for birth registrations and citizenship applications so that no one is left behind.

For Priscilla, she hopes to help advocate for stateless people through volunteering programs, lending her voice to amplify for the cause.

“I want to let other stateless people know that they are not alone in this journey, that it is not their fault, and that one day, they will finally be able to obtain citizenship,” she said.

For most of us, an IC may just be a piece of blue plastic for identification that’s granted automatically upon turning 12, but for Priscilla and many other stateless people, it is the key to accessing education, healthcare, financial services, job opportunities and more–things that we often take for granted. Thus, it is crucial for us to recognise our privilege and use it to educate ourselves about statelessness and mobilise efforts to build a more inclusive society to ensure that stateless people do not fade into invisibility. 

Because they too are ‘Anak Malaysia’.

By,

Amanda Lee, Journalist, Charisma Movement 24/25. About Author

Amanda is an aspiring author who's passionate about connecting with people, their stories and translating their experiences, feelings, ideas and thoughts into words through creative storytelling.