PUTRAJAYA: A grandmother has found herself trapped in a bureaucratic nightmare to rectify the religious status in her identification document.
Identified as Yanti, she was granted permanent residence after arriving from Indonesia at age 19 and later marrying a Felda officer named Sunny Chan in 1977.
The permanent resident card issued to her in the 1980s identified her as a Muslim although she was born to Christian parents and remained a practising Methodist, she said.
After attempts to correct the error, she was informed by the National Registration Department (NRD) last week that she could collect her new MyPR card from its Putrajaya office.
So the grandmother of nine, who lives in Johor Baru, came here yesterday to collect the document but discovered to her frustration that her new MyPR card still stated her religion as Islam.
“I waited so long believing this would finally be corrected,” she said at the NRD headquarters.
Yanti’s life in Malaysia began nearly five decades ago when her boat capsized in the rough seas moments before reaching land.
She was rescued by local boatmen before being taken to a Felda settlement where villagers gave food and shelter to her and others.
Eventually, she met Chan and got married, raising three daughters and a son who were born between 1978 and 1992. Chan died in 2024 at the age of 84.
Yanti, now 68, recounted that her late husband had, at one point, sought help from an assemblyman to rectify her religious status in the PR card. However, nothing came out of it.
In the meantime, Yanti said she continued practising Christianity and raised her children as Christians.
Following Chan’s death, the error in her MyPR returned to haunt her after the Public Service Department rejected her application for her late husband’s pension as official records showed that she was Muslim while Chan was not.
Eventually, Yanti sought help from lawyer Annou Xavier who wrote to the NRD requesting that her religious status be corrected.
Supporting documents, including records attesting to her Christian faith, were submitted.
Xavier said there was no forthcoming explanation when they approached NRD officers.
“An officer handed over the new MyPR card, which was no different from the previous one, before walking away. My client is very disappointed,” he said.
When contacted, the NRD said a court order would be required in order to rectify or change Yanti’s religious status.
“It is the same for MyPR holders as it is for MyKad holders. All relevant supporting documents and a court order must be produced for the department to make such amendments,” it said.
