PUTRAJAYA: The concern of an Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) student from Sabah about the possibility that she may not get a scholarship because his mother has not yet obtained permanent resident status (PR) has caught the attention of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
This was voiced by Stephanie Juditha Sebastian during a dialogue session with the Prime Minister during the Putrajaya Idea Festival (Putrajaya FOI) at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre, here today.
Stephanie said despite being born and raised in the state, her mother has yet to obtain Malaysian citizenship and despite various efforts since 1990, it has not yielded any results.
“The issue of citizenship is ‘famous’ in Sabah. (For example), my mother was born and raised in Sabah but until now she has not received a PR. This worries me a lot because to apply for the scholarship (among the conditions) both parents must have citizenship,“ she said.
She also said that she had raised the issue with the Home Minister last year, but until now there has been no response.
The Prime Minister then asked the student to submit an official letter along with complete documents to Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi for further action.
Ahmad Zahid, who was also present at the dialogue session, encouraged the student to submit the letter to him: “Give the letter to uncle, let uncle settle it,“ he said.
