Youth abandoned by parents receives Malaysian citizenship
KUCHING: The National Registration Department (JPN) has finally granted Malaysian citizenship status to an 18-yearold boy.
Pending assemblywoman Violet Yong said Peter Christopher Keli was entrusted to a woman surnamed Lee in 2006 when he was just a few months’ old.
“At the time, Lee was a coffee shop cleaner. Peter was entrusted to her by his parents – the father’s an Iban, and the mother, Indonesian – and has since remained in her (Lee’s) care since.
“Despite Lee’s plea for his biological parents to bring him back home, they disregarded the request,” she said in a statement yesterday.
Yong said she had been fighting tirelessly for Peter’s citizenship for years, having been closely following up with JPN’s Birth Registry Unit and Sarawak Council for Native Customs and Traditions to ensure the youth’s citizenship application would go through successfully.
“We have finally achieved the desired outcome, obtaining Malaysian citizenship for Peter after receiving the approval letter from JPN’s Birth Registry Unit,” she said, adding that this had brought great relief to Lee, now aged 75.
However, due to discrepancy in Peter’s name in the Guardianship Order and newly-extracted birth certificate, Yong said she would assist in filing a court application for rectification, and later on, proceed with helping him apply for a MyKad.
She said she had also assisted Lee in rectifying Peter’s birth certificate to include the ‘adat’ (customary) marriage of his parents.
“This is so that Peter could be granted the citizenship status of his biological father, who is a Malaysian,” said Yong.
“Before the amendments of the relevant particulars in Peter’s birth certificate, his citizenship previously took after his biological mother – Indonesian.”
Yong said she was delighted over Lee’s success in securing citizenship for Peter, and expressed her gratitude to the officers at the JPN’s Birth Registry Unit and Sarawak Council for Native Customs and Traditions for their invaluable assistance and services throughout the process.