Seven siblings from Rawang finally receive identity cards after growing up without birth certificates, formal education, or proper jobs due to unregistered parents.
KUALA LUMPUR: Seven siblings from Kampung Tanjung Sungai Choh can now live normal lives after receiving their identity cards from National Registration director-general Datuk Badrul Hisham Alias.
The siblings, aged 17 to 30, had lived without official birth certificates or identification cards because their parents failed to register their marriage and their children’s births.
This lack of documentation meant all seven grew up without formal education, proper jobs, and basic freedoms, according to the fourth sibling, Nur Hakikah Ismail.
She said they learned informally by watching television, listening to conversations, and teaching themselves the alphabet in stages.
“We had no schooling. We learned bit by bit. We promised ourselves, we would keep learning even if we couldn’t go to school,” she said in Bandar Sungai Buaya, Rawang.
“Life certainly wasn’t normal. We felt restricted going anywhere as we didn’t have any identification cards.”
Without identification, they faced limited job opportunities as most employers refused to hire them, forcing reliance on part-time work without social security.
“People would say, whose children are these, why aren’t they in school but we slowly managed to get used to the teasing and humiliation that became part of our lives,” she added.
Her sister, Nur Shakila Ismail, 19, described the identity card as a ray of hope for securing an education and changing her future.
“I really do want to get an education. Even without a schooling background, I’m confident it’s not too late for me to change my future,” she said.
Badrul Hisham explained the late registrations resulted from the siblings’ parents’ unregistered marriage, complicated further when their father died in 2023.
He said the siblings received approval for Late Birth Certificate Registration on 8 December, followed by Late Identification Card Registration on 23 December.
This followed an investigation and confirmation of relations through DNA samples from their nearest relatives, such as an uncle.
He also stressed that claims individuals would be arrested for registering weddings or births at the National Registration Department were untrue and not under its jurisdiction.
