Religious zealots in the JPN

Posted on May 6, 2008
Filed Under Civil Service |

I was quite appalled when I read this letter by Dr Yati Hewett in the Letters section on Malaysiakini.

According to Dr Yati Hewett the JPN (National Registration Department) has taken upon itself to deny Muslim children they deemed illegitimate to bear their father’s name on the birth certificate. An internal circular issued on July 6, 2007 instructed JPN staff to look out for illegitimate Malay children and that they should leave the space for the father’s name in the birth certificate as “Information not available” instead of filling it with the father’s name. And since the father’s name is not available the children should carry the name “Abdullah” instead of their father’s name.

For a couple to register the birth of their child, as provided by the law, all they needed to do is present a Borang JPN.LM01 (known as Section 13 ) in front of a JPN official and that would be it. Unless Dr Yati is mistaken, there is no separate law governing the registration of Muslim children.

Dr Yati’s account of what has been happening at the JPN is quite appalling. Muslim children are denied their father’s name just because JPN suspects that the child was born out of wedlock, even when that is not true, and just because their parents marriage was registered outside Malaysia.

I think incidents where a government department can arbitrarily take actions that affect the lives of people, outside the requirements of the law should be highlighted. People should demand changes be made to the law, for example, recognize marriages registered outside of Malaysia and not deprive children the right to carry their father’s name whether their parents were married or not.

JPN is not the religious department, and as such they have no business prying into people’s private lives and suspecting any child as having been conceived outside of wedlock, just because their mathematical calculations told them so! :evil:

And that part about forcing children to be ‘binti Abdullah’ or ‘bin Abdullah’ just because their parents were married outside Malaysia is just wrong. These children have fathers, for goodness sakes, and their parents are married!

I agree with Dr Yati, religious zealots have no business running a civil service department! :mad:

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Comments

2 Responses to “Religious zealots in the JPN”

  1. anak_perelih on May 8th, 2008 12:30 am

    Putri,

    What will happened if the child (a girl) want to get married when at that time she know that his father cannot be her ‘wali’ to marry her? What is her feeling at that time when she kenw she is an illegitimate in front of everybody? Having Bin/Binti Abdullah doesn’t means she/he is an illegitimate as many muslims name is Abdullah including our own PM… (Is Nori Binti Abdullah is an illegitimate??? No lah) anyway many people remarries after devorce or death. BTW.. it’s not a “XXXX bin/binti Tidak Diketahui)

    Those who married outside Malaysia can apply marriage certificate at the Jabatan Agama after they came back to the country. Those married in ‘Sempadan Siam’ too was issued by certificate by Jabatan Agama Islam in southern Thailand. So does who married in UK or US or Australia… they have Islamic bodies there too and these couple can apply Malaysian cert after coming back to MAlaysia. I had many friends married in US,UK while studying and having kids there came back and facing no problem here in registering their children at JPN

    JPN did not exceeded its authority, but just want to protect itself from troubles that may arise in the future if there was no such regulations. And having to get involved with Muslims on matters related to Islam, the department had to respect the Islamic regulations…. and i think the circular did not at any point be incontrast with any law or Malaysian constitutions… BTW.. it didn’t involve non muslims as there was no such regulations in other religions.

    BTW.. who is the zealots??? meddling in other peoples’ religious business?

    [reply this comment]

    Puteri reply on May 8, 2008:

    Ahh, about your friends having married overseas, good for them for not having had any difficulty registering their marriages with JPN. But remember that circular came out last year, and since then JPN has taken it upon themselves to do the “right” thing! So how many kids have had to endure binti or bin Abdullah on their birth certificates?

    About the PM, Abdullah was his father’s name so there is no comparison.

    JPN has indeed exceeded its authority. No law was amended to allow JPN to carry on with what they have been doing since the issuance of that directive.

    Don’t you think that the JPN officer who refused to put the father’s name on the child (born prematurely) because by his calculation the said child couldn’t have been conceived while the parents were married, was a zealot? His action was religious zealotry, and caused much anger and frustration on the parents! According to Dr Yati the child died without having a birth certificate issued!

    What has divorce and remarriage got to do with this whole thing? The kids parents divorced or remarried, that doesn’t affect their name. They carried their father’s name on their birth certificates, and if their step father chooses to adopt them, then that is totally different. They had a choice!

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