Human Writes: Does this child belong in Malaysia?

A volunteer in a session with stateless children in Sabah. Without citizenship, these children cannot go to a regular school. — Filepic/The Star

I’d like to think that in 2026, we try to give every child a fair start in life. A child’s future, surely, should not be determined by decisions made before birth.

Imagine being born in Malaysia to a Malaysian father, growing up here, going to school here, making friends here, and knowing no other place as home. Yet you are denied Malaysian citizenship because your father and your foreign mother were not married when you were born.