The Malaysian Insight

MALAYSIAN mothers of children born overseas are still struggling to get their children recognised as citizens despite a High Court decision in their favour.

Those who spoke to The Malaysia Insight told of years of waiting while the authorities gave them the runaround.

The long-drawn uncertainty has caused many of these children and their parents hardship, deprived the children of a sense of belonging and added to the financial burden of the parents to raise non-citizen children.

Esther Teo, 35, tried applying for citizenship for her oldest daughter at the Malaysian Embassy in Frankfurt, Germany in 2015 but was told she had to wait for two years.

Now, after seven years, her daughter is still not a citizen.

“After my child was born, I registered her in Frankfurt via article 15(2) of the Federal Constitution and I was told to wait for two years,” Teo told The Malaysian Insight. 

“I had no choice. I waited and was always told it was still being processed. Then they told us to follow up with the Home Ministry, and at the time, I would call and email. All this year they have been telling us to wait.

“When I come back every year, I will drive (to the ministry) to ask. All these years, I have been in contact with them.

“In 2019, I kept pressing them and in 2020, I got a rejection letter to my application without a reason.

“I reapplied (after the rejection). Until recently, I applied again under article 14 in March.”

Teo’s story and that of other Malaysian mothers with children born overseas to foreign husbands has thrown the spotlight on gender bias in Malaysia’s citizenship practices.

The laws on this are left open to interpretation on gender equality and the Home Ministry has so far chosen to take a view that discriminates against women. 

Teo’s first attempt to apply for her daughter’s citizenship was under article 15(2), a constitutional provision that states that any person under the age of 21 and who has one Malaysian parent, can be registered as a citizen upon application to the government.

When she tried again recently, the relevant part of article 14 under which she applied states that a person is a citizen by operation of law if he or she was born outside Malaysia with his or her father a Malaysian citizen.

In practice, the government has chosen to take “father” literally, where the Kuala Lumpur High Court decision last September ruled that constitutional provisions on citizenship rights must be read together with provisions against gender discrimination.

On this basis, High Court judge Akhtar Tahir decided that the word “father” must be read to include mothers and that their children are entitled to citizenship by operation of law.

The judge was ruling in the case filed by six Malaysian mothers as well as Association of Family Support and Welfare Selangor and KL (Family Frontiers).

However, the government is appealing the decision. The Court of Appeal will be delivering its verdict on August 5.

‘How do I explain this to my child?’

Teo was an automation engineer working in Frankfurt when her daughter was born.

Given her experience with her first born, when Teo was pregnant again in 2018, she and her German husband both quit their jobs in Frankfurt and relocated to Johor, where Teo’s family is based.

“In 2018, I told my husband that I don’t want my second child to have the same citizenship problem, so we quit our jobs,” she said.

Teo flew back while heavily pregnant without a doctor’s clearance and ended up in the emergency department upon landing in Malaysia.

Her oldest daughter, now in Year 1, is currently enrolled in a government primary school. But she is only legally allowed in the country because of a student visa that needs to be renewed yearly.

“Now she’s getting older, she is starting to ask questions like why she needs a visa while her sister doesn’t,” Teo said.

“It’s hard to explain gender discrimination to her, to tell her girls and women are lesser (beings). I just told her the government hasn’t issued the documents.

“Recently, there was a vaccination for Year 1 students and she didn’t get it. She just stood there and looked. 

“These little things hurt her a lot. I have to deal with her sense of belonging, she doesn’t have that. I will try to guide her through her painting.”

Teo had been hopeful after the High Court’s landmark ruling last September, but still continues to wait as the government is appealing.

Family ties and values

For Rachel Ng, 42, it was important that her children have Malaysian citizenship so that they can grow up near family and in the same environment and having the same cultural values as her.

“My ex-husband and I have very different family values. He doesn’t see family at all. At the most, he sees them once a year, and even during Christmas, he doesn’t see his extended family,” Ng said.

“I don’t want my son to be like that. I don’t want him to think it’s normal. I was not raised like that.

“I have a big family. My support system is here in Malaysia and I want my son to try to be multilingual. Living in London will be difficult.

“To me, a lot about character and personality lie with how you were brought up and who the people in your surroundings are.”

Ng’s eight-year-old son was born in London, the United Kingdom. Following two previous miscarriages, Ng erred on the side of caution and did not fly home to give birth as she was afraid something untoward would happen.

She applied for citizenship for her son when he was 10 months old at the Malaysian High Commission in London. Until today, he has still not received his citizenship.

Ng, who works in the advertising industry, considers herself lucky in the sense that she has the financial stability to provide for her son.

“I consider myself lucky, from a schooling and medical point of view, I’m able to afford private school and healthcare. The challenges are not as extreme as what other mothers face.”

However, getting her son into a government school was a challenge and she had to do a visa run for her son every six months until he turned seven.

“This is the stress we have to deal with. It’s the biggest struggle,” Ng said.

In February, Ng applied for citizenship for her son based on the court’s ruling last September, but has yet to hear anything.

Fear of deportation

Meanwhile, for Aniza Ismail, 50, her biggest fear as a mother is having her eldest daughter, 18, deported once her student visa expires. She also has two other daughters, aged 16 and 12. 

The 18-year-old and 16-year-old were born in the United States but hold Indonesian citizenship through their father. Her youngest was born in Malaysia and is a Malaysian citizen.

“I am divorced and a single mother raising them here. I’m 50 this year, if my kids are not here, who else is going to take care of me?” Aniza said.

“In Islam, it’s the boys who look after the mother but I have no sons. I can’t have my children separated.

“All my kids are in Malaysia, they have never set foot in Indonesia. I’m scared that if she (the eldest girl) is no longer on student visa, if she has to leave, where would she go?”

As a single mother, Aniza, who works in the private sector, is financially constrained, having to pay for her children’s education and healthcare expenses.

“The eldest is studying, and it is difficult for her to get a scholarship because she is not a citizen. She cannot apply to local universities like Universiti Teknologi Mara,” said Aniza.

“She has to apply to a private university. She also has to apply as an international student and fees are more expensive.

“You really have to think about the money to pay for visas, levies and you have to make sure that you have enough so that they can continue schooling.”

Aniza had tried to apply for citizenship several times beginning 2009 but was rejected each time.

With the recent court decision, she reapplied this month.

“I’m just a little bit relieved with the court’s decision, but we still wait, which is another struggle.” – June 29, 2022.