KOTA KINABALU: Sabah MCA Public Services and Complaints Bureau has received and dealt with some 250 complaints since 2008, mostly on difficulties faced by local Sabahan parents in acquiring citizenship for their children born overseas or out of wedlock.
Bureau head Margaret Lim said over half of the complaints forwarded to them had been resolved while the rest were still awaiting approval from related government agencies.
“Difficulties in getting Malaysian identification cards was not only common among local Sabahans but in most cases, also take a very long time to resolve,” she said at a press conference here yesterday to announce the Bureau’s open day this Saturday.
The event to be hosted at E-West in Luyang from 2pm to 4pm, is part of the central MCA Public Services and Complaints Bureau’s nationwide tour to meet and help the people deal with any problems they need assistance with.
“I remember one of the cases we handled involved a senior citizen. It took years before her application was finally approved, and we only managed to present her citizenship certificate to her family after she passed away,” added Margaret.
According to her, cases involving children with Bruneian birth certificates were also usually very difficult to settle, with most if not all of them had yet to get their applications for Malaysian citizenships approved.
Apart from identity card application problems, Margaret said many complaints received by MCA were Ah Long (loan shark) related cases.
In fact, the majority of six cases forwarded to them since she was reappointed head of the bureau end last year were from victims of Ah Long.
“The typical scenario in cases like this is that the debtor goes to the loan shark as a desperate measure; then they have to pay a very high interest and ends up paying just the interests and unable to settle the principal amount for years.
“In many cases, the accumulated interests paid over the years were much, much higher than the original amount borrowed. Other than that, cases of fraudulent schemes or conmen are also common.
“Some years ago, there was a case involving a woman from Sabah who was cheated over RM1.2 million by a suspected international syndicate. She came to us and when we traced the money, we found that they were banked into an account in Singapore before it was transferred overseas,” she said.
Meanwhile, inviting the public to the roadshow this weekend, Margaret said those facing problems in dealing with government or private agencies are welcomed to attend and relate their grievances to the bureau.
She said MCA welcomed all members of the public and does not limit its services to only the Chinese community, and in fact about one fifth of the cases received by the bureau in Sabah were from Bumiputeras.
“It may not necessarily be a complaint. We also try to assist the public in any way we can in any problem they may have,” she said, noting that the bureau had among others helped parents secure scholarships for their school-going children and mediate disputes between house owners and the local authorities.
She said a special talk would also be delivered during the event by guest of honour Datuk Seri Michael Chong, who is MCA Public Service and Complaints Bureau national chairman.
She said Chong would also be on hand with his team from the central MCA to gather complaints and provide assistance to any individuals or group seeking their services.
“The main purpose of the event is to show by action that MCA is very serious in providing services to the people. There will be briefing to explain the role of the bureau and what are the cases that it normally deals with. In principle, we accept any cases and try to help however we can. So, I encourage everyone to come and join us this Saturday,” she said.