Has the party ever gone all out to check how many and why red identity card-holders born and bred here have been unable to obtain citizenship, asks WH Cheng.
A state Gerakan youth chief recently claimed that they found a 70-year-old man who was born and bred in Malaysia and has been holding a red identity card for most of his life.
And the Gerakan youth chief told the press the party promised it would do all it could to obtain citizenship for the poor old man, who had previously tried four times to apply to the National Registration Department for citizenship.
Aside from helping this poor man to obtain his rightful citizenship, did Gerakan make an effort to check why this man has not been able to obtain his citizenship despite being born and bred here? Why did this man have to waste 70 years of his life without anything only to have some political party like Gerakan to try this all over again?
Has Gerakan ever made an effort to trace other people who have been left out in such a way just because of certain possibly discriminatory policies of the government over citizenship procedures? Has Gerakan ever gone the extra mile to check why these poor people have to suffer such an ordeal for years, having been denied by the government their rights for decades?
That 70-year-old man said he has gone through a great deal of trouble as he could not get a proper education, housing, employment and benefits. He has had to deal with repeated harassment from immigration officers and personnel from other government security organs who often viewed him as an immigrant or “pendatang”.
Has Gerakan ever gone all out to check how many more out there have to experience the same ordeal that this poor old man is experiencing now?
This is not the way to fish for votes. This is cheap politics!
Source: g-socialaffairs.blogspot.my
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