Citizenship for Mismah 'against immigration rules'
Gunner: Like Mismah, 700,000 in Sabah had been granted Malaysian citizenship based on 'special case'.
Remember one Malaysiakini reader who wrote that some time ago, Mohamad came all the way from Kerala, India, and got married to local woman. His son, Mahathir, eventually became the fourth PM of Malaysia.
Similarly, let say Kiram bin Juksat, a Tausug descent from Zamboanga, Philippines, landed in Sandakan searching for a job in the oil palm estate in 1998. In 2011, under the 'special case' and perhaps armed with a fake birth certificate, Kiram is given Malaysian citizenship.
Some 19 years later, his son is admitted as Universiti Malaysia Sabah student. Soon after graduation, he enters politics and becomes, yes, the chief minister of Sabah.
My Thor: Rules are man-made and can be broken or twisted to suit oneself. In Malaysia, despite all the hue and cry, mass registration for citizenship is ongoing without the need to meet the conditions so long as they are Muslim.
One day, Malaysia will be colonised again by foreigners, who will proclaim Malaysia as a republic, whereby the royalty is dethroned as was the case in their countries. God save our king!
Anonymous: So Mismah qualified under the 'special case' category. What is special here? I can't see what differentiate her from the rest. Can the home minister please shed some light on this?
Thisia: An Indonesian labourer is given PR within one year of her arrival in Malaysia and then years later, citizenship.
Now she is a bumiputera and enjoying all the special privileges accorded to them, where else the Chinese and Indians who have been citizen for ages and have contributed so much to the country is treated like second-class or even third-class citizens.
Dear Malaysians, is this fair?
Ashoka PJ: My mother, born in Labu, Negeri Sembilan, in 1931 went to Sri Lanka and came back here in 1940s and married a local Malayan. She still holds a red IC (identity card) and remains stateless to this day.
Kgen: The Immigration Department and NRD show a shocking bias in giving easy citizenship to unskilled labourers from Indonesia, southern Philippines and Bangladesh but real Malaysian citizens who have some irregularities in their documentation are denied citizenship no matter how many decades they have waited.
What is the use of rules so proudly stated by Immigration director-general if you don't follow them?
Malaysian For Malaysia: Whoever in the NRD (National Registration Department) and Immigration who approved the citizenship status of these people has committed an act of treason to the king and country.
How can those in the NRD sleep peacefully knowing they have aided and abetted treason against the country?
Malaysians need to unite. Let's actively start weeding out these foreigners in our local communities. Find them, report them. The Umno-BN hegemony must be brought to end for the sake of our country.
Dr Zafar Shah: It takes 10 to 15 years or more for Burmese professionals to get PR (permanent resident), but never citizenship. For Indonesians, Filipinos and southern Thais, the process is fast-tracked, like Mismah.
We ask for equal treatment for all foreigners. Malaysia is facing a brain drain. With low salary, Malaysia's ex-citizens are refusing to come back. The country could not attract American and European expats.
Malaysia should understand that in time, it needs to attract Burmese professionals like Singapore is doing now.
But if Malaysia foolishly continues to give priority to Indonesian labourers for their votes, do not forget that there are a lot of them who are opposition sympathisers and some Bali bombers were Indonesians with Malaysia PRs.
Faz: With Umno-BN at the helm, all government departments are their party extensions. When you scrutinise the SOP (standard operation procedure), you will find the SOP is only for show.
Instructions to grant citizenships from Umno-BN do not follow SOP as these people do not qualify in the first place. Digging up records will expose more discrepancies and expect the departments concerned to tell more lies to cover these up.
Tkc: I have heard of a case where another Indonesian - who did not qualify under any of the listed criteria - was granted citizenship fairly easily after residing in Malaysia for four or five years.
She still treats Indonesia as home and goes back to visit her parents a couple of times a year. Interestingly, she does not want to register as a voter but one should not be surprised if someone else turns up on polling day to cast a vote on her behalf.
Onyourtoes: What if I tell you a case where the father and mother are PRs, but the child is a full citizen with bumi status? Can you see now we can never meet the objective of NEP.
Tell me how when there are thousands of them coming here rat poor, swelling the ranks of bumiputeras and then starting to claim privileges.
Jedi_Who: Johor PAS Youth chief Suhaizan Kaiat, you have done your nation proud. Thanks for exposing the acts of treason by the government, especially the Home Ministry.
We need to file an injunction to stop these unqualified citizens (anywhere from one milliion to 2.5 million) from being on the electoral roll until the court decides otherwise. Then, perhaps we can have a fair election.
Dood: Rules don't apply to Umno/BN and their lackeys. No need to look at Mismah's case. Just think of Sabah and Project M.