Sunday November 15, 2009
Ministry: All applicants treated equally
GEORGE TOWN: Applications for citizenship, permanent residence and entry permits are considered based on a set of stringent guidelines and not on demographics or race.
Datuk Lau Yeng Peng, the special officer to Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein, said approvals and rejections were based on guidelines under the Constitution.
“There is no leeway or exemption given to anyone. All applicants must comply with a set of guidelines.
“Our requirements are similar to many other nations, including developed countries,” Lau said after a closed-door briefing for Penang Gerakan on the position of late birth certificate registrations and applications for citizenship, including entry permits.
He was responding to claims from certain quarters that the Federal Government gave exemptions to some applicants based on demographic or race considerations.
“We screen all applicants equally. In the backlogged cases (1997 to 2006), we were transparent and went through all applicants, who were mostly of Malay, Chinese, and Indian descent, and including those from Sabah or Sarawak, besides smaller minorities and expatriates,” he said.
Lau said the huge backlog of more than 140,000 applications, which has since been cleared, was also largely due to the need for each applicant to undergo various procedures.
“The ministry also could not trace some 7,000 applicants initially and was forced to upload their details online at its portal in the hope that they could be traced.
“As the minister had stressed, we are also trying to simplify certain procedures, such as making the comprehension of Bahasa Malaysia easier for elderly applicants,” he said.
Earlier, Penang Gerakan chairman Datuk Dr Teng Nock Nan said the party’s public complaints and legal bureaus here had recorded a significant increase in enquiries about the three types of applications.
Applicants were advised to apply directly to the ministry after getting advice from the bureaus instead of depending on middlemen who promised a speedier processing.
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