Is the poor performance of the NRD another aspect of the ineptness of the Government Administration or is it just UMNO policy

Birth certs: NRD should not play God
Tanak Wagu | Jun 1, 09 6:38pm
I refer to the letter Disappointed by National Registration Dept.

In her letter, the writer said that the NRD had queried her about her marriage. I have come across many articles in newspapers, websites and blogs about the hassle created by the NRD in producing birth certificates.

I do not understand why is it that Malaysians have to go through such a hassle to obtain the simplest and most basic document like the birth certificate.

After 46 years (or 52 in Peninsular Malaysia) of independence we would expect to go through less hassle in getting our birth certificates.

In the past, all one had to do to obtain a birth certificate for his or her baby was to just produce a document from the hospital or a letter from the village chief. Now, it seems that a marriage certificate is a requirement.

Where does it say in our birth registration laws that a marriage has to be valid for a birth certificate to be produced? What right does the NRD have to deny birth certificates to children who are born in this country to Malaysian parents?

And even more cruel is when they do produce the birth certificates but in the column for the father's name they leave it blank, rendering the child a bastard.

And in some cases, they even make the poor mothers who are in confinement to go to the NRD!

There was a case where a mother who had just given birth three days earlier was asked to go to the NRD office in Penampang late last year.

Issues involving the NRD affect the ordinary people. This is because the NRD produces the most basic document to help us enrol in schools, open bank accounts, getting loans, getting treatment
at hospitals and most importantly, proving our citizenship.

I do hope the new administration under Najib Abdul Razak and his home minister Hishamuddin Hussein Onn will address this problem.

Birth certificates should be processed as long as there is a letter from the hospital or any other licensed maternity centres.

Or in other cases as long as there is a verification from the village chief or the natives court. The NRD must never deny a birth certificate on the basis that a marriage certificate is not recognised. Please do not play God.