KUALA LUMPUR – The National Registration Department (NRD) cannot arbitrarily alter the stipulated race of a person born to parents of different ethnicities, said experts.
In fact, they said, the department should make the appropriate amendments in cases where it changed the stated race of individuals without their approval, whether wrongfully or mistakenly.
Lawyer Haijan Omar said it is up to the applicant or their parents to provide the particulars on race when applying for a MyKad or birth certificate.
This is provided for in Regulation 4 of the National Registration Regulations 1990, he told The Vibes.
“Hence, it’s not for NRD to unilaterally choose which race ‘suits’ a child born to interracial parents.
“In any event, any corrections to be made must forthwith be applied to NRD for changes.”
Haijan was responding to the plight of a couple, whose two children are listed as “Indian” in their updated identity documents, despite them being registered as “Dusun” in their birth certificates.
Last month, Joachim Thayalan, who is of Indian descent, and his Dusun wife Elizabeth Joseph were registering their eldest child for school via the Education Ministry’s online system when they found that it listed the boy’s race as Indian.
The same happened with their second son, whom they were enrolling in preschool.
When he contacted the ministry, Joachim was told that it received the particulars from NRD via the automatic transmission of data for prospective students.
He was also made to understand that the ministry is unable to revert the listed race of his sons as the information came directly from the department.
Elizabeth lodged a police report on the matter on March 3.
On the family’s predicament, Malaysian Human Rights Commission commissioner Jerald Joseph said NRD should not change anyone’s ethnicity on their identity documents as the matter is determined at birth.
“NRD should not do anything (to change someone’s race) arbitrarily, as it’s the parents who decide the ethnic identity (of their children) at birth.
“In this instance, the Education Ministry and NRD must explain to the parents how this happened. If it was a mistake, they should remedy it immediately.”
The issue becomes “perplexing” if the department finds that it is not due to a blunder, he said.
“I believe NRD has the original details of the birth certificate, and that would be proof of the original identity of the children.” – The Vibes, April 2, 2021
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