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Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Solution for a Lost Identity


1. 78 year old Mrs. Yong Lee Hua, a sino-kadazan (like myself) lost her identity card in a supermarket in Penampang last year. She is a genuine Malaysian Citizen, a Sabahan, residing in Sabah even before independence in 1963.

2. She went to National Registration Department hoping to get a new MyKad. But only to be disappointed when she was instead given a red IC with a status of a permanent resident. Equivalent to a refugee in her own country.

3. Imagine this, as a genuine citizen mistaken as a refugee, she will be denied all citizenry rights. She will not be able to acquire land nor buying a house. She will not be able to buy Amanah Saham Nasional ASN range of shares. Her children or relatives will be living in constant fear that her PR status could be revoked anytime and lots of other predicament that we would not normally face as a citizen.

4. UPKO was frustrated with the way Mrs. Yong Lee Hua case was handled by the National Registration Department. Led by Wilfred Bumburing who even threatened to review UPKO's position in Barisan Nasional if the issue is not promptly settled.

5. I give credits to UPKO for bringing the case up. At least the people who are living in ignorance of peninsula's hegemony will know the issues Sabahans are facing. But they will always make us wonder. Why now? Why barking on a wall? I can assure you, it will not move an inch.

6. Even if Mrs. Yong Lee Hua case is settled. I think there are hundreds others who are facing the same problem. Living as a permanent resident in their own country. As said by Donald Mojuntin, UPKO will always try to help those who are affected. Donald even revealed two other Sabahans who were issued red IC.

7. In my humble opinion, a solution to this problem is simple.

8. National Registration Department is keeping over 20 million of civilian demographic records. Added to that, they are also keeping biometric and portrait records of each citizen. All inside a database.

9. Regardless whether you have or have not registered a MyKad, your biometric record should exists in JPN database. This is because prior to rolling out MyKad, JPN I believe had conducted conversion of the old blue Identity Card from Paper Form into computerized digital data. The fingerprints have been digitized enabling 'Matching' with a person's live fingerprints.

10. These biometric records are kept securely in Putrajaya NRD Department. Why not use this sophisticated technology to arcertain Mrs. Yong Lee Hua identity? Remember CSI (Crime Scene Investigation)? Mrs. Yong Lee Hua biometric record should exists in NRD database, because she had an IC before. The one that she lost in the supermarket. So, her biometric record should be reusable.

11. There are two types of matching.

12. Number one is called 1 to 1. This way NRD should call Mrs. Yong in. And conduct a search in their database, either by name "Yong Lee Hua", by her old ID number that is if she could remember it. And by any other demographic data as claimed by her. The search should be straight forward, don't 'kelentong' me that NRD cannot do that, I Know it can be done. When the record that she claimed hers is found. Then the stored fingerprint can be used to 'match' with her live finger, of course with the help of state of the art biometric device. Come on! don't tell me NRD do not have this facility! If Mrs. Yong 'live fingerprint' positively matches with the 'stored biometric record' then we can positively say that 'she is what she claimed she is'.

13. Number two is called 1 to many. This way NRD can call Mrs. Yong in, take her 'live fingerprints' and dump it into NRD biometric database to search against 20 over million of fingerprints data. The purpose is to find 'matching candidates' for the 'biometric database'. If there is a positive match, then the system should be able to tell with 'whose record' Mrs. Yong 'live fingerprints' matches with.

14. If the results are positive. Issue a new MyKad lah BONGOK. Problem solved.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think the NRD staff are just plain lazy and stupid. I had a bad experience with the Donggongon JPN just last year when I went to get a Mykad for my 12 year-old girl. I had carefully filled in all the details needed to complete the form and handed it to a sour-faced lady at the counter. We waited for her to check and key-in my girl's particulars in the computer. When the lady finished, she issued us the receipt but when I checked the receipt, she had typed in a wrong number (which is the date of birth of my girl). When I pointed out the mistake to her and asked her if she could correct it now and then, she had the nerve to just say in a couldn't-care-less manner that it couldn't be done because all the particulars were already submitted to the Sabah NRD HQ. I told her that since they were already on-line she could just rectify that there and then but she was adamant that it couldn't be done, that only the HQ could do the correction and I would have to wait for one week for that! It was then that I became angry and told her that I especially took one day leave just to get an IC for my girl and if she couldn't do the correction herself, could she just give me all the documents back and I would bring them myself to the JPN HQ at Jln UMS, Likas. When I said this, she suddenly relented and curtly told me it could be done "tapi agak lama lah....barangkali mau dua, tiga jam mau tunggu" and I told her that if it took her the whole day to do it, I could accept it but just don't give the crap that they couldn't do it at their branch when almost all government departments were already on-line. I really pity the kampung folks being treated the way that I had gone through by these kind of staff (well I am not saying all are the same but I find there are a lot of room to improve their attitude in dealing with the public). I fully support the call for a full revamp of the Sabah NRD.

Fido Dido said...

I know their system. Been dealing with it. I know it can be done.

Anonymous said...

Sabah/Sarawak/Brunei/Kalimantan will form United State of Borneo. Let us ditch Malaysia. Borneo will make better nation than Malaysia

Anonymous said...

...how about our identity as Borneo Malaysians? UMNO was at its best when it proposed Sabah's CM post be rotated among the various races of Sabah....but then UMNO made the gravest mistake when it decides to infiltrate Sabah's political scene!

...UMNO's presence in Sabah is sort of a devil's wish! Its "hidden" political agenda is disintegrating harmonious, multi racial Sabah! Look at Malaya...

Huminodun & King Cup (..combined)
Gunung Kinabalu

Anonymous said...

Now we have a Sabahan as the NRD director. Hopefully he has a mind of his own and can clean the mess in NRD, not just kowtowing to the big boss in the federal.

Sumandak
Penampang

Anonymous said...

....not only the NRD should be revamped....but the Home Ministry as well! Let Malaysia's democracy be truly anchored in each Malaysian souls regardless of race and religion! And let it be that the federal cabinet is no greater than the parliament!

Gunung Kinabalu

Anonymous said...

Yes Gunung Kinabalu, I totally agree with you.

Sumandak
Penampang