SIBU: Former Bukit Assek assemblywoman Irene Chang has commended the Sarawak state cabinet for approving the proposal to allow previously-stateless adopted children in Sarawak to receive the “K” indicator in their identity cards upon successful citizenship application.
However, Chang noted that while this is a significant first step, the Ministry of Women, Childhood and Community Wellbeing Development needs to urgently release comprehensive guidelines and SOPs providing a clear framework for the “K” status for all parties involved.
“Furthermore, I urge the State Government to clarify whether applicants who have already previously applied for the “K” indicator at the Immigration Department and are currently waiting for results should reapply,” Chang said in a statement today (Oct 11).
“If these existing applicants are to wait, what is the timeframe before they would know if their application has been approved or otherwise?” she added.
Chang, who is Sarawak Democratic Action Party (DAP) Political Education Bureau director, said the state government should also clarify if the “K” indicator will be automatically given to new successful citizenship applicants, or if they are required to file a separate application to be recognised as ‘Anak Sarawak’.
She noted that the current proposal makes no mention of the “K” indicator for biological children who were born illegitimately out of wedlock to a Sarawakian biological father whose name is inserted into these children’s birth certificate as the biological father.
“We have several families whose foreigner biological mothers came to Sarawak and gave birth to children here, subsequently abandoning the children with the Sarawakian fathers and returning to their respective countries without registering their marriage to the Sarawakian fathers, thereby rendering these children illegitimate,” she said.
Similarly, according to Chang, upon successfully being registered as Malaysian citizens under Article 15A of the Federal Constitution, these children were also not given the “K” indicator in their identity cards.
She viewed that the current proposal, which has been approved by the State Cabinet, should also include these children whose biological father is a Sarawakian with the “K” indicator in his identity card.
Chang further urged the ministry to expedite this matter and fine-tune all required procedures with all relevant government departments.
“This matter has been ongoing since I first wrote to the State Secretary in 2021. Since then, we have lost many local talents to West Malaysia and even to Singapore due to the lack of the “K” indicator in their new identity card,” she added.
