KANGAR: A retired soldier who was a staff-sergeant had to live like an “illegal immigrant” for four years without any self-identification due to bureaucratic procedure after retiring from the Royal Malaysian Army in October 2016.
Justan Latahang, 44 from Beseri, Padang Besar said without the MyKad forced him to face difficulties in obtaining facilities as a Malaysian citizen such as free medical services, schooling aid for his children and even worse was the inability to apply for a permanent job.
“No one wanted to employ me ... my application to work as a security guard too was turned down,” he told Bernama recently.
The father of three children said he had to depend on his military pension which was meager to sustain his family while his wife was unemployed.
“I fear if I continue to fail in obtaining MyKad as it would affect the future of my children to continue their education later as all application to join educational institution now had to be done online,” he said as he massaged his forehead thinking of his children’s future.
Justan said he had previously made several appeals to the National Registration Department (JPN) Putrajaya and Sabah, but still failed to get the MyKad.
He said a JPN official in Sabah told him that the serial number of his birth certificate duplicated with that of another individual’s and resulting in the Sabah JPN not being able to issue a replacement MyKad for him.
“Now I am still waiting for a letter from the Sabah JPN to undergo a DNA test as informed earlier but after waiting for almost half-a-year I am still waiting for a reply,” he said.
Justan said he had gone to Sabah on four occasions to deal with the Registration Department there but still failed to get a replacement card (MyKad).
He also feared that if he still failed to get his MyKad, he would face a problem in getting his pension in future. — Bernama
