MAY I first offer my sincerest appreciation to Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, as it was with his grace that my son is now a Malaysian citizen.

While I married a foreigner, I never intended to settle down abroad. My work gave me an international assignment  and it was during this period that I gave birth to my child. It was only when I went to the Malaysian embassy to register his birth that I was told that Malaysian women, who are married to non-citizen spouses, do not have the same right as Malaysian men to confer citizenship on their overseas-born children.

I was told I could apply for his citizenship and the results would come in “a few years”. What followed was many years of torment: from the mental anguish of not knowing my son’s future to the many administrative runs and processes to apply and renew his visa to stay with me when I returned to Kuala Lumpur. It was saddening that a golden opportunity at work had become a source of such great frustration and exhaustion. But I am thankful that this chapter of my and my son’s life has finally been put to rest.

Painful as it was to endure, I knew a group of mothers who were in even more distressing situations. If I may share some situations that I had come across:

● A mother with a non-citizen child who has special needs, who struggled to pay for private treatment as her child did not qualify for public healthcare;

● Women leaving abusive relationships who had to face additional stress as the child’s father would seek custody, citing the mother’s lack of ability to support the child in Malaysia as the child was a non-citizen;

● A lady who hid her pregnancy and risked her life and that of her unborn child so that her second child could be Malaysian, to avoid the same circumstances as her first child.

There are many more heartbreaking stories. While my prayers have been answered for my son, it is still my fervent hope that the government will proceed at once with the constitutional amendment to grant Malaysian women the ability to confer citizenship on their overseas-born children, and that the Dewan Rakyat and the Dewan Negara will vote to support the bill when it is tabled.

Without citizenship, children struggle to access affordable healthcare, education, and many other basic needs. Every woman and her child need protection and it is with your kindness and political will that we can allow Malaysia to be a fair and just country for all. – August 8, 2023.

* A Malaysian mother reads The Malaysian Insight.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.