A Malaysian no more...

The fuel rebate exercise recently has created a mad rush for Malaysians throughout the country with the post offices being stormed over the weekend. Personally, I had a pleasant experience and breezed through the process. It is thumbs up for Pos Malaysia on this.

However, I could not say the same for a friend of mine who left the post office sad and disappointed. The worst part is, he left with a feeling that he has been stripped of his rights as a citizen of Malaysia. This friend of mine was born in Singapore but is a citizen of Malaysia all his life, well, at least that’s what his MyKad and passport indicate. Like many others, he made his trip to the post office to get his share of RM625. He did this a few days after the start of the exercise. However, the post officer informed him that he is not eligible for it. This is because a circular has been sent to the post offices on 16.06.08 to halt disbursement of the rebate to foreign citizen holders of IC with the numbers 7X, 8X or 9X in the seventh and eighth digits. My friend happened to have the numbers 71 on his MyKad since he’s born in Singapore and was automatically deemed a foreigner. Since when is a Malaysian only a Malaysian when he’s born in Malaysia? Does this mean that all Malaysians born overseas (including children of diplomatic officers) are in fact stripped of their citizenship? Can foreigners actually hold MyKad?

How come such a directive was not made public? I did not see any such announcement in the newspapers or any other media. The officer at the post office was kind to show proof of the circular but did not allow a copy to be taken by us. I think the circular was issued by JPJ. Why must there be so much secrecy in this circular? Is it because many people would cease to be Malaysians? I only hope that there has just been some mistake in implementation. After all, isn’t Malaysia famous for grand plans which inevitably fail due to horrible implementation.

I hope the relevant departments would sort things out and return the rightful rebates to all eligible Malaysians regardless of whether they are born on this soil or not. Remember, they are Malaysians, not foreigners!