MYKAD applicants among the Sarawak indigenous communities have complained about finding their religious status automatically converted to Islam, said Suhakam today.

Malaysian Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) Sarawak commissioner Madeline Berma said this was largely due to the fact that these applicants also had “bin” or “binti” in their names.

“It is quite common for Sarawakians to have ‘bin’ or ‘binti’ in their name, similarly in Sabah.

“But the National Registration Department (JPN) automatically change their religious status to Islam the moment they see ‘bin’ or ‘binti’.”

Madeline said the correction of religious status in MyKad does not need to go through a complicated process if mistakes were committed by the JPN officers.

“During our meeting with the relevant ministry, they have admitted that this is an administrative issue and the JPN must take it up.

“But it is not easy to change the status from Islam to non-Islam, so it becomes not as straightforward,” she told reporters today.

Suhakam’s discussion with JPN on the matter also found that the decision of the change would need to be discussed at the federal level, and not at the state level.

“We have this 60-year-old lady who said she has not professed the Muslim faith, but when she changed her old identity card to the new MyKad, she has found her religious status to be Islam.

“She has been trying hard to correct the status but until today, she faced many challenges and brought the case to Sarawak Suhakam,” Madeline said.

Suhakam commissioner Jerald Joseph said that the wrong religious label has been difficult to correct, and this has also caused difficulties for the applicants.

“This impact of religious status affects their family and work life. It needs to be resolved as the human rights of these individuals are also important.

“Dialogues are happening among different departments and the communities. Work is continuing to correct this properly,” he said. – January 21, 2021.