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This issue has been going on for a very long time now. However, since 5xmom brought up the topic and asked nice and all, I decided to go back into time and dig up some archives to help readers understand what exactly it is that’s going on. 5xmom, sorry if I steal your thunder abit. I didn’t want to spam your comments with loads of links to newpaper archives.

For readers who don’t know what MyKad is, it is the identification card used in Malaysia. Now, MyKad has been seeing alot of growth in terms of usage over the years. However, it has also been the subject of much controvercy. The latest of which is the incorrect listing of religion in the MyKad database. The fact that religion should play in at all is a curiousity to me to begin with. However, I am not one to argue with city hall. If they say they need it there, then they need it there. But that being said, wanting it in there and getting it right are two sepearate things. Unfortunately, for a vast number of MyKads holders, the National Registration Department (NRD) of Malaysia (also known as Jabatan Pendaftaran Negara, JPN) has gotten it wrong.

The first documented article in the NST was on 15th July 2005, an article titled “At wits’ end over MyKad” written by M. Husairy Othman. The article describes the confusion over the religion of a 52 year old technician. NRD had apparantly listed the man (Lee On Chye) and his son (Lee Ee Hau) as Sikhs while his wife (Nyat Peng) was registered as a Buddhist. As it turns out, they were all catholics.

The first case was followed closely by another article on 17th July 2005, written by Deborah Loh entitled “NRD says they are Buddhists”. The article identifies Lee Tien Tein and her son Ng Hoong Ern as Christians who have had their religions messed up by NRD and “forced into a bureaucratic merry-go-round to convince the NRD that they are Christians”.

Once brought to public attention, people started to look more closely at their personal details that were in their MyKads. An error that has gone undetected for the longest time soon became one of the biggest topics, especially among the Christian community of Malaysia. To appeace the public, NRD quickly issued a public statement apologising for the error. The article “JPN mohon maaf kerana kesilapan” by Jainisah Mohd. Noor was published in Berita Harian on 19th July 2005.

Since then, there has been a slew of reported errors. The worse part is if you wind up being listed as Muslim (Islam), as Lina Joy found out. Bob Teoh’s article, “Time to iron out problems” referred to her case where it was decided that NRD did not have the authority to change her religion if it was listed as Islam. This is controversial indeed (As 5xmom had done, I shall safely curb this topic to avoid any heated debates or further controversy).

After much hoo hah over the matter, it was finally announced in NST on 5th November 2005 that a Cabinet decision from last year may not have reached NRD (wtf?), causing confusion for non-Muslims who want to change the religion recorded on their MyKad. In that article, Deputy Home Affairs Minister Datuk Tan Chai Ho was quoted to say that the Cabinet had agreed last year that non-Muslims do not have to prove to the NRD that they have changed their faiths (But IMHO, that still doesn’t solve the problem if you were listed as Islam).

The procedures for changing the religion in MyKad was clearly documented in another article in the Star dated 6th November 2005 entitled NRD to work out simpler procedure for change. Please refer to it for full details.

But even after all the ruckus, NRD is still getting it wrong. A letter by Elsie Cherian entitled “Don’t Assume” sent to NST on 16th November 2005 describes a case in which the author had gone to collect her sister’s MyKad. When registering, she had requested that the NRD officer verify the religion, saying that she and her sister were Christians. The officer had nodded confirmation. However when they went back to collect the identification card, the religion had mysteriously changed to Hinduism. What is so wrong with the system?

It was said that the religion would default to that which was in the Birth Certificate. But there have been cases which seem to show otherwise. Bulbir’s faith ‘renewed’ article in the Star dated 6th November 2005 is one such case.

So, how long will it take for NRD to resolve the controversial religious conversions? Only time will tell. Until then, check your MyKad details carefully. You just never know what you may find.