Too many incorrect entries on the new ICs

Aliran is petrified that what was once perceived as a reliable database to verify important details or particulars of Malaysian citizens is now seen to be unreliable and corrupted with false information. We are perturbed that there have been so many cases in recent times revealing false recording of one's religious faith on the new national identity cards of Malaysians, the MyKad. We emphasise "false recording" as opposed to erroneous entry simply because there are now too many cases of falsity to give the National Registration Department the benefit of the doubt.

In the past, isolated cases were brought to light, leading many to conclude that it must have been some clerical error resulting in incorrect entries on the MyKad. But those cases were obviously the tip of the iceberg. Seputeh MP Teresa Kok dropped a bombshell yesterday in claiming that she "had proof that more than 300 Christians had their religion stated incorrectly in the MyKad".

These discoveries were apparently made by "accident" and if it could expose so many cases of false entries, it begs the question how many tens of thousands of Malaysians carrying their MyKad are affected. It is difficult to accept that such cases are the outcome of genuine mistakes. A person's religious faith is clearly stated on the application form for the MyKad. It is therefore not a question of guessing the faith of an applicant. The number of MyKad holders with incorrect entries are just too many to be dismissed as "inevitable clerical mistakes".

How could these mistakes have come about? It is not plausible that we have so many incompetent public servants at the NRD feeding our personal data into the National Registration System. It cannot be that one incompetent public servant was responsible for all these false entries. The number of MyKad holders affected in this fraud would suggest that a syndicate could be at work at the NRD, undermining our fragile unity. They could be deliberately plotting to cause mischief and untold misery for innocent citizens and their families affected by their dastardly act. Their actions must be considered as sabotaging the government's national effort in promoting unity and harmony in this country.

Imagine the terrible agony and the shock a family would have to undergo when they discover that a deceased non-Muslim member of the family is recorded as a Muslim on his or her MyKad. That instant, they lose control over the deceased's body and have no say over his or her funeral rites and arrangements. And, at that instant, they also lose their claim to the deceased's assets. As non-Muslim relatives, they are entitled to nothing - not the deceased's body nor his or her wealth. This is a frightening prospect for all non-Muslims.

This is why such false entries must be thoroughly investigated and the culprits brought to book because it has wide-ranging consequences. It raises the question whether we can trust sensitive and personal information with the NRD. It raises the question whether we have people of integrity at the NRD who will honour and guard our personal details. It raises the question whether the NRD has a system to stop the abuse and zoom in on culprits who abuse the system.

Aliran would like the government to explain how it proposes to verify and rectify all the MyKads in the country and to stop the abuse. Unless this exercise is undertaken nationwide, people will no longer trust the system and will be wary of divulging their personal information.

This revelation raises a crucial question: how necessary is it to record a person's religious faith on the MyKad? What is the justification? In view of all these errors, we should do away with the practice.


P Ramakrishnan
President
2 November 2005

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