Born Stateless In Sarawak, She Waited 20 Years For A MyKad

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For as long as she can remember, Liu Wei Wei would watch planes pass overhead and wonder if she would ever be allowed on one.

Recently, the 20-year-old finally got her answer.

Liu received her MyKad — a Sarawak-prefix “K” identity card — at a handover ceremony in Sibu, marking the end of a bureaucratic journey that began before she was old enough to understand what she was missing.

Every time I saw a plane flying, I kept thinking about whether I would ever be able to board one. Now that I have my IC, I can finally make that happen. I can also continue my studies.

Liu’s case is straightforward in its injustice; her father is Chinese, her mother is a Sarawak indigenous woman who has spent her entire life without a national identity document — stateless, in the language of officialdom.

Because her mother had no MyKad, Liu had none either; a condition the mother never chose became the daughter’s burden from birth.

It took the intervention of the Pelawan Service Centre, operating under Sarawak Deputy Minister for Public Health, Housing, and Local Government II, Datuk Michael Tiang Ming Tee, to finally resolve the case.

What One Letter Means

In Sarawak, the “K” prefix on a MyKad is not merely administrative.

It unlocks a range of government benefits — social welfare, secondary and tertiary education subsidies, and access to the recently introduced Sumbangan Keperluan Asas Sarawak (SKAS) scheme.

For Liu, it also means the freedom to travel, to study further, and to participate in systems that had been closed to her for two decades.

Under federal constitutional provisions, individuals aged 21 and below may apply for citizenship through a relatively straightforward process, while older individuals face considerably more complex procedures.

Meanwhile, Tiang reminded Sarawak parents that even if their child was born outside the state, they can still register for a “K”-prefix IC at any National Registration Department (JPN) branch in Sarawak — provided at least one parent qualifies.

The Mother Is Still Waiting

Liu’s story has a happy ending; her mother’s does not yet.

As of the ceremony, efforts are still underway to help her mother obtain a Sarawak identity card — the same document Liu just received, the same one her mother never had.

I hope my mother will also successfully get her IC soon. I hope one day I can bring her along on my travels.

Tiang acknowledged that statelessness of this kind remains common across Sarawak, with many cases involving parents who were never formally documented, passing that invisibility on to their children.

Whether the case is difficult or simple, we will do our best to help.

For Liu, the wait is over, but for others like her mother, it continues.

READ MORE: Insulted During MyKad Renewal: ‘Can’t Understand Malay?’ – JPN Apologizes To Malaysian Chinese Woman

READ MORE: Malaysian Chinese With 3 Birth Certificates Lost Her Citizenship

READ MORE: Cabinet Agrees To Enable Automatic Citizenship For Overseas-Born Children To Malaysian Mothers

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Born Stateless In Sarawak, She Waited 20 Years For A MyKad
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