KUALA LUMPUR: After more than three decades of uncertainty, a Sarawakian man of Kenyah ethnicity finally received his Malaysian identity card, ending 33 years of living without citizenship.
Soliman Wan, 52, who was born in Long Banga, Miri, had held temporary resident status, or the green identity card, since the age of 12 due to the uncertain citizenship status of his parents, who did not possess identification documents.
Speaking to BERNAMA when met at a church in Petaling Jaya today, he said receiving his MyKad at the National Registration Department (JPN) in Putrajaya on January 29 felt almost unreal after spending thousands of ringgit and years trying to resolve his citizenship status.
“When I went to JPN and read the letter, I read it five times like someone who could not read because it felt as if I was dreaming. Before this, I thought I would die as a stateless person because I had already lost hope,” he said.
Soliman, a pastor who has served at the church for the past 25 years, said his parents did not have identification documents due to the challenges of living in a remote area, including limited transportation and a lack of awareness at the time about the importance of such documents.
Describing the approval of his application as a miracle, Soliman expressed gratitude to Home Minister, Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, for his attention in reviewing the application he first submitted to JPN in 1993 and later to the Home Ministry (KDN) in 1998.
Recalling the many difficulties he faced despite having a birth certificate, he said his stateless status restricted his movement outside Sarawak and made it difficult to open a bank account, renew his driving licence, and withdraw his Employees Provident Fund (EPF) savings.
Despite these challenges, he said he was grateful to the Sarawak Immigration Department for issuing a support letter that allowed him to pursue studies in biochemistry at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) in 1994.
Soliman is now determined to help and advocate for other stateless individuals, especially among native communities in Sarawak such as the Iban and Kenyah, in obtaining proper identification documents.
“The closest are my own family members. Three of my siblings are still stateless, and my 72-year-old mother only received her late birth registration certificate three months ago,” he said. – Mohd Adli Shahar/BERNAMA
