Long wait: Hew (left) showing the certificate of identity while Low displays her red identification card during the press conference in Ipoh.
IPOH: Hew Ling Poa has been applying for Malaysian citizenship since the age of 17, to no avail.
Now a 52-year-old grandmother, she remains puzzled why she still holds a permanent resident (PR) status, despite both her parents being Malaysian.
“Yes, I was born in Brunei, as both my parents worked in a hair salon there, but at the age of five, I was brought back to Malaysia.
“My late father had applied for my PR status when we got back to Malaysia, and at the age of 12, I received my PR status.
“Then when I was 17, my parents started applying for my citizenship, with the last application made in 2018, which was rejected in January this year.
“My younger brother is a Malaysian, my late husband is a Malaysian, my 25-year-old daughter is a Malaysian, my grandchild is a Malaysian, and I am now 52, and still holding a red identification card,” she told a press conference organised by state MCA Public Service and Complaints Bureau chief Low Guo Nan here yesterday.
Hew showed the press all the necessary documents to prove that her parents are Malaysians, and added that her status means she is unable to vote or get any government aid.
“I am running my own hair salon, and during the movement control order, I was not entitled to any aid,” said Hew, who went to school here.
She said her citizenship application had been rejected about six times without any reason provided.
Low said he is helping Hew by writing in to the Home Minister as well as to the secretary to the Prime Minister.
