SHAH ALAM - Segambut MP Hannah Yeoh says citizenship is a fundamental issue as almost every registration in the country needs MyKad identification card.
The former deputy minister of women, family and community development said this includes registering into school and opening bank accounts.
"Now, for every registration you need MyKad. Can you imagine the children without these documents?
"They need the identity card because it is very important,” she said to reporters after finishing her interview session with veteran journalist Tan Sri Johan Jaafar at Sinar Karangkraf here.
She added there were many cases of stateless children in Sabah and at the same time, issues of mental illness were also high among the population.
"The children are not at fault, nobody had any choice of where they will be born,” she said.
She also said that the mothers were not to be blamed for this predicament because they might have to give birth overseas due to border lockdowns during the Covid-19 pandemic.
She said that since it was 2022 and women's rights should be similar to men's.
"So why don’t we change our old laws to help the people?
"This is our people and our mothers,” she said.
It was reported today that Pengerang MP Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said was ready to approach the King on discriminatory citizenship laws and to grant equal rights to both parents in regards to the nationality of their children.
Azalina and several MPs have submitted a Private Member's Bill at the Dewan Rakyat to amend the Federal Constitution to allow mothers to pass their citizenship to their children born overseas.
The former deputy minister of women, family and community development said this includes registering into school and opening bank accounts.
"Now, for every registration you need MyKad. Can you imagine the children without these documents?
"They need the identity card because it is very important,” she said to reporters after finishing her interview session with veteran journalist Tan Sri Johan Jaafar at Sinar Karangkraf here.
She added there were many cases of stateless children in Sabah and at the same time, issues of mental illness were also high among the population.
"The children are not at fault, nobody had any choice of where they will be born,” she said.
She also said that the mothers were not to be blamed for this predicament because they might have to give birth overseas due to border lockdowns during the Covid-19 pandemic.
She said that since it was 2022 and women's rights should be similar to men's.
"So why don’t we change our old laws to help the people?
"This is our people and our mothers,” she said.
It was reported today that Pengerang MP Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said was ready to approach the King on discriminatory citizenship laws and to grant equal rights to both parents in regards to the nationality of their children.
Azalina and several MPs have submitted a Private Member's Bill at the Dewan Rakyat to amend the Federal Constitution to allow mothers to pass their citizenship to their children born overseas.