PUTRAJAYA: Oct 26 — A 15-year-old girl born in Perak — to a Malaysian father and a Filipino mother — today chalked up a win again in the Federal Court in her six-year journey through the courts to seek recognition as a Malaysian citizen.
She had previously won twice at the High Court and the Court of Appeal which declared her to be a Malaysian.
But the girl — who will be turning 16 soon — was put in limbo again over her status, as the government had applied to the Federal Court for leave or for permission to appeal the decision in her favour.
But with the Federal Court’s decision today, which is mere days before her 16th birthday, the girl will finally get to call herself a Malaysian officially.
Today, Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Tan Sri Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim, who chaired a three-judge panel at the Federal Court, rejected the government’s application for leave to appeal.
“We are unanimous in our view that this application lacks merits, and therefore, we dismiss this application with no order as to costs,” the judge said when delivering the decision via the video-conferencing platform Zoom.
The other two Federal Court judges on the panel today were Datuk Rhodzariah Bujang and Datuk Mohamad Zabidin Mohd Diah.
When contacted, one of the girl’s lawyers, Larissa Ann Louis told Malay Mail: “I am extremely delighted with today’s decision. We fought for this young girl for six long years! Though we won at every stage, we still found ourselves fighting to defend her status.
“She turns 16 next week and I can only imagine this being the sweetest 16! Hopefully, we get to help more struggling individuals be recognised as Malaysians. One life changed, many more to come.”
When contacted, the girl’s lawyer Annou Xavier told Malay Mail: “This young girl has been waiting since 2008 when she first made her application for citizenship to the National Registration Department and has been waiting since May 2, 2019 since she won at the High Court.
“With today’s Federal Court decision, we hope that the Government will issue the citizenship certificate and identity card soon, without delay.”
The girl has been waiting her entire life for Malaysia to recognise her as a citizen, with her Malaysian father making the first application for her citizenship in February 2008 when she was just more than one year old.
Although the High Court had on May 2, 2019 ordered for the girl to be issued with a Malaysian citizenship certificate and the MyKad identification card, the girl did not receive these documents as the government and the two other respondents filed an appeal on May 27, 2019 to the Court of Appeal.
