Eight-year-old orphan gets birth cert, can now attend govt school

PORT DICKSON: Eight-year-old orphan Muhammad Yusri can now attend lessons at a government school after receiving his birth certificate from the National Registration Department (NRD).

Muhammad, who has only been receiving tuition all this while, was all smiles when he received the document from NRD director-general Zamri Misman at his grandparents’ home here on Tuesday (May 23).

His 66-year-old grandmother Sabariah Ahmad expressed her gratitude to the department for issuing Muhammad with an identification document.

"I have been worried for him because he has not been attending school and should have been in Year Two this year.

"With this document, we can now get him enrolled," she said, adding that Muhammad was also unable to get treatment at a government health facility or travel as he did not have any identification document.

Sabariah said her son had failed to register his marriage to Muhammad's mother as the ceremony was conducted in a village.

"Whenever I asked if he had registered Muhammad's birth, he would tell me that the imam who conducted the nikah ceremony did not have the proper credentials and that it would be a difficult process," she said.

Sabariah said Muhammad's mother died last year due to renal failure and his father suffered a fatal heart attack during the recent fasting month.

A worried Sabariah then started looking for any document she could to register Muhammad's birth.

"While going through my son's belongings one day, I found some documents which I thought were helpful and immediately submitted an application," she said, adding that she was surprised that the NRD had processed and approved the application in such a short period.

Zamri when met later said the NRD had interviewed Muhammad's family members and other witnesses before issuing the document.

"We discovered that Muhammad was delivered at home and raised in Puchong and we then decided to interview his family members, neighbours and other witnesses.

"After going through the entire process, we decided to issue the birth certificate," he said, adding that Muhammad was a non-citizen as his mother was an Indonesian.

He said Muhammad's guardians must now go through the adoption process and then apply for his citizenship.

Zamri advised parents to register the birth of their child within 60 days as delays could cause unnecessary problems.

"Whether your marriage is registered or otherwise, please register the birth of your child within the stipulated time failing which the process will be delayed," he said, adding that parents had no reason to delay this as there were 212 NRD offices nationwide.

He said from January last year till April this year, the NRD had approved 10,245 of the 14,557 applications for late birth registration.

The bulk of the cases involved couples who had failed to register their marriage.