Kota Kinabalu: Parti Warisan has called on the National Registration Department (JPN) to set up a dedicated unit to ensure that the religious status of East Malaysians is properly featured on their MyKads.
Christopher Masudal said it is common for Christians in Sabah to have Muslim sounding names and vice-versa, especially among the Kadazan-Dusun-Murut (KDM) community in rural and interior areas.
“In fact, the use of ‘bin’ and ‘binti’ among Christians in rural and interior KDM communities is also widespread,” Masudal, the party’s strategic communications director, said in a statement.
He wondered if JPN officers automatically labelled non-Muslim Sabahans as Muslim based on their names, although such mistakes should not occur.
“The applicant would have already stated their religion on the application form, and even if the applicant is illiterate and requires JPN assistance, their religious status should have been confirmed earlier,” he said.
He said that NRD should not determine religious status based merely on a person’s name, as every applicant has already declared their religion in the application form, as it contravenes Article 11 of the Federal Constitution that guarantees freedom of religion.
“These proposals may be seen as minor by the federal government, but there are crucial steps to demonstrate its commitment to ensuring that Sabahans, particularly the native communities in the interior, truly experience change under the Unity Government,” Masudal said.
He was responding to a report in the Daily Express in which the Kota Kinabalu High Court ruled that JPN had wrongly registered a man from Pitas, Sabah, and his three children as Muslims, even though they are Christians.
Justice Celestina Stuel Galid expressed concern about JPN’s “recurring administrative problems”, noting that the religion of a person was sometimes recorded based on assumptions rather than factual or legal evidence, which were also seen in previous cases, even when applicants provided clear instructions.
Celestina said such mistakes are troubling, and expressed concern, in particular for illiterate applicants from rural areas who rely on JPN officers for assistance.
Celestina described it as “fundamentally wrong” for the NRD to unilaterally determine an individual’s religion, holding that the department had gone beyond its administrative role.
Masudal also urged Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail to consider a proposal by the party for a “fast-track lane” at JPN to speed up MyKad applications for Sabahans in the rural and interior areas.
This and a special Sabah-Sarawak unit would prove the unity government’s commitment to affected communities, particularly KDM groups in the interior, he said.
He added the unit could also act as a fast track to expedite delayed MyKad applications for Sabahans, especially those in rural areas.
