NRD officer put Berungis as birth place – immigrant

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KOTA KINABALU: An immigrant from Tamil Nadu, India said he did not protest when a National Immigration Department officer stated in his identification card application form that he was born in Sabah, as he just wanted to be a citizen of this country.

Nasir Yusof @ Latif, who came to Sabah with his uncle in 1982, said he could barely understand Malay when he applied for the identification card in the late 80s and he was just grateful that his application was approved.

“I think it is not for me to say if it (the action of the officer) was right or wrong, but of course the information (my place of birth) was not right because I was born in India; but I didn’t think too much about it at the time.

“I was very young, I have no education and I could not write in Malay, so the officer helped me fill the form. He asked if Berungis was okay and I just said ‘yes’ because I like Malaysia a lot and just wanted to be a citizen here.

“Besides, I knew the place. I often went there with my uncle to get supplies for his shop, and I also have some relatives residing there,” he said when testifying before the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on illegal immigrants, yesterday.

According to the conducting officers, the background information under Nasir’s IC incorrectly stated that his place of birth was Berungis, Tuaran.

His IC also carries the code number “12”, which identifies him as a Malaysian citizen born in Sabah.

The 51-year-old, now a considerably successful businessman, said he did not understand the law or any of the procedures involved in applying for an IC or citizenship in Sabah at the time.

The man, who is married to a local woman from Tambunan and with whom he has a child and operates several restaurants and other businesses in the Kota Kinabalu, informed the Inquiry that he was in Kota Marudu when he learned from relatives that the Malaysian government was awarding citizenship to those who wished to be Malaysian.

After hearing the news, Nasir said he went to the Kota Marudu NRD office and found about a thousand others fellow immigrants from India, Pakistan and several other countries queuing up to apply for ICs.

“Most of us did not have any education and the officers had to help us with the application form. I was asked to pay RM12, that was all,” he said when asked whether there were any parties who asked them for payments for the ICs.

He also said ‘no’ when the Commission asked if the applicants applied for the document after being told to do so by any individuals or parties other than by their own relatives.

He also informed that he did not produce any birth certificate or any other supporting documents for his application as he was asked only to give his fingerprints and several copies of his photograph and to sign the completed application form.

According to him, he received his blue IC about two months after submitting his application.

“I did not ask the officer to put Berungis but he did, so I just accepted it,” said Nasir, who has upgraded his blue IC to the high quality identification card (KPT) and then later, to the latest version of the Malaysian IC.

Nasir said he initially came to Sabah with an Indian International Passport but never applied for any extension throughout his stay in the State.

He said he surrendered the Indian passport to JPN after getting his IC and applied for the Malaysian International Passport instead, which he had used to travel to India to visit his elder sisters still living there.

“I never applied for any other documents. I didn’t know anything about this, I just followed my employees. Maybe one of them has taken care of it but even if he did, I have no knowledge of it.

“No one has ever checked or asked me about my document because I was mostly in the rural areas, in the villages, but when people went to apply for the IC, I went to apply too,” he explained.

Asked if he had registered as a voter after getting his IC, he said he had his name listed three years after getting the blue IC and had voted three times since then.

As to whether he knows if he has dual citizenship in Malaysia and India, he said: “I have no citizenship in India sir, I have no documents and I cannot vote there, I can only vote in Malaysia. I vote here in KK; unfortunately the last time I voted, the candidate (I have chosen) lost.”

Eleven other witnesses testified during the Inquiry yesterday, bringing the number of individuals called before the Commission to 49, so far.

This included Sabah PAS Youth chief Lahirul Latigu, whose background had been questioned by certain quarters, online.

Lahirul’s testimony agreed with the conducting officers’ remarks that he is a Sabahan born from a mixed-marriage of an Indonesian father and a Murut mother.

Other witnesses included Indonesian and Filipinos detainees currently awaiting deportation in several temporary detention centres in Sabah.

Also called to testify were immigrants with proper documentations and legally working in the State.

The proceeding will resume today and scheduled to be concluded tomorrow. The commission will study all evidences and prepare their findings and recommendations by June.