Lim Sae Wang can now prepare for Standard One like other six-year-old boys after his application for citizenship was approve by the Home Ministry with the help from Gerakan Public Complaints Bureau.

After waiting six years for his citizenship the six-year-old boy received a letter from the Home Ministry last week which approved his parents’ application for citizenship for him after he was classified as “stateless”.

His father, Lim Tow Leang, 62, a retired colonel and a former Royal Malaysian Air Force test pilot, was grateful to the ministry, the state Gerakan Public Complaints Bureau and the party leaders for their help in obtaining his eldest son’s citizenship.

“I have been waiting for six years and this is the best New Year gift for the family as Sae Wang can now go to school like other six-year-old boys,” he told reporters at the Gerakan headquarters here today.

He said his son has also been accepted by SJKC Kheng Thean in Jelutong yesterday after the approval of his citizenship.

Lim married his Indonesian wife, I Siu Lin, 38, in Indonesia in October 2002 but their marriage was not registered with the Malaysian embassy there, which caused Sae Wang to be in “statelessness”.

He was accompanied by Siu Lin, Sae Wang and their two other children, Sae Hao, 4, and Sae Jia, one, who have Malaysian citizenship, at the news conference.

State Gerakan chairman Datuk Dr Teng Hock Nan urged the public who face difficulty in applying for citizenship not to give up and seek to the party’s aid.

“I hope the people would continue to apply for their citizenship as we are always ready to help the people to fulfill the requirement by the Ministry but we would not promise any speedy approval as the process would be made by the Ministry,” he said.

However, the party Public Complaints Bureau chief Dr Kiew Hen Chong also advised Malaysian couples who wish to marry overseas to register their children at Malaysian embassies or consulates to avoid unnecessary problems.

“They must register their children who are born overseas within a year for their children to get Malaysian citizenship,” he said.

by Editorial Desk
gerakan4u.com