AFTER about eight years of waiting, 20-year-old Ong Kim Nan has finally received his Malaysian citizenship and identity card through the Penang citizenship programme.
Pengkalan Kota assemblyman Wong Yuee Harng took the initiative to assist Ong with the citizenship process, highlighting the importance of having Malaysian citizenship status.
“If you don’t have this citizenship status, you may face difficulty in furthering your studies and also obtaining a driving licence,” said Wong.
Ong, who had applied twice for citizenship, eventually received his blue identity card after years of patience and going through numerous processes. He first applied for citizenship in 2018.
Also present was his guardian, John Low Ooi Kok, who spoke about the difficulties faced by Ong, who had previously held neither Malaysian nor Chinese citizenship.
Citizenship programme assistant officer Joseph Tan Chuen Kheng also acknowledged the difficulties faced by individuals above the age of 16 when applying for citizenship.
“For those above 16 years old, there’s no easy way but to go through this process. If below 16, it’s much easier,” he said.
Tan also addressed why some stateless individuals remain without citizenship, explaining that some eventually give up after their first or second application.
He said the programme would continue its efforts to assist stateless individuals in Penang with their citizenship applications.
“We will try our very best to help those stateless people, both for now and in the future,” he said.
Wong added that there are other ongoing cases that will be addressed.
“The struggle never ends here. We will move forward to help other similar cases,” he said.
Story and pix by Ammar Mikhail Aamer