Published on: Friday, October 10, 2008 |
The 78-year-old picked up her new IC from the NRD office at Federal Administrative Complex at Jalan UMS, accompanied by her sons Frankie and Jonathan and Moyog Assemblyman Donald Mojuntin and former PBS Supreme Council member Dr Chong En Leong, Thursday.
However, despite being overjoyed about having "regained" her Malaysian citizenship, Yong was bitter about the "hardship" that she had gone through for the past one year.
"I am not satisfied because I still do not know the real reason (cancellation of citizenship)," she said. She said she visited the NRD office more than 10 times to change her Permanent Resident (PR) status to Malaysian citizen but was not entertained.
Her misfortune started when her wallet was stolen from her handbag while shopping in a supermarket at Penampang Baru on Feb 12, last year.
On the same day, she applied for a replacement at the Donggongon NRD after lodging a police report. After several months, she was told to collect her replacement IC.
Being an illiterate, she didn't find anything amiss when she saw the colour of the IC but instead brought it home and proudly showed it to her children.
She did ask the officer why it was red but was told that it was for senior citizens who had lost their ICs. Her children, however, were not amused because they knew such IC was issued to those with PR status.
They brought her back to the NRD office to get it changed but the officer told her to "apply for Malaysian citizenship" instead.
It was the beginning of her problem because soon after, her bank accounts were frozen resulting in her unable to withdraw money for her daily expenses.
She also could not travel outside the country because she could not renew her passport.
She was told by the NRD officer that she could not even travel to West Malaysia to visit her youngest son who was working in a bank in Kuala Lumpur. Yong was so embarrassed that she used her driving licence as proof of identity wherever she went.
She even used it as an identity document to vote during the March 8 general election.
Thanks to Upko's Bureau for Citizenship and Security, led by Donald Mojuntin, her case was highlighted in the media that subsequently drew the attention of the nation.
Her son Jonathan, 48, also concurred with his mother's demand for an explanation from the NRD. "Even though the matter has been settled, we are not satisfiedÉwe want explanation," he said.
