Teen is finally a Malaysian
Happy ending to eight-year wait
KUALA LUMPUR: A teenager, who underwent a DNA test to prove her biological father is Malaysian, has finally obtained Malaysian citizenship.
N. Yanesha, 14, who was all smiles yesterday, said she was glad to get the citizenship.
“I collected my identity card (IC) at the National Registration Department (NRD) in Putrajaya a week ago,” said Yanesha, who is of Malaysian-Filipino parentage.
Her aunt S. Yogeswari said the Home Ministry sent a letter a week ago to Yanesha’s father S. Nanthakumar, informing that her MyKad application was approved and that the girl could collect it at any NRD office.
Yogeswari said the DNA test, which Nanthakumar paid RM1,500 in order to obtain the citizenship for his daughter, was worthwhile.
Her lead counsel Annou Xavier informed High Court judge Justice Rosilah Yop when the case was up in chambers.
Speaking to reporters later, Xavier said Justice Rosilah directed Federal Counsel Haryati Ahmad to obtain instructions for a new birth certificate, which states Yanesha’s status as warganegara (citizen).
“She now has a MyKad, which she had waited for eight years,” he said.
Her parents are separated and the girl, born in Bandar Sunway in Petaling Jaya on May 3, 1999, stays with an aunt and carries a birth certificate that states her status as bukan warganegara (non citizen).
Yanesha, whose father is Malaysian national Nanthakumar and mother Judith Guballo, a Filipina, had filed a civil claim through Yogeswari.
The girl named NRD director-general, the Home Ministry secretarygeneral and the Government as defendants.