Yoursay: How to score a Malaysian citizenship

Yoursay: How to score a Malaysian citizenship

YOURSAY | ‘Citizenship is irreversible and should be awarded with great care.’

Citizenship - fast-tracked for athletes, denied to loyal locals

Why grant footballer citizenship but not kids born to M'sians - group

Newday: Batu Kawan MP Kasthuri Patto’s article discusses the many thousands born here that are still stateless through no fault of their own, yet preference is given to outsiders who play good football and have a decent grasp of Bahasa Malaysia.

In this case, it’s footballer Liridon Krasniqi of Kosovo who is now a Malaysian citizen.

Now, many of the stateless probably play good football too and definitely have a great grasp of the language as they were born here.

It seems like there is one particularly low standard for foreign shining stars, and another harsher standard for those born here. Can you not see the travesty in this?

Anonymous_ac37: Does Krasniqi still hold his Kosovan citizenship or did he surrender it as Malaysia’s constitution does not allow dual citizenship?

I will be interested to know if that requirement applies to him.

I am not sure why the citizenship was granted to him when a work permit would have been sufficient. I think it’s time we look into this.

Rule of law applies to everyone irrespective of their popularity.

Annonnymous 080: The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) has not even exhausted all avenues to ensure that all Malaysian players are given a chance to play at the national level, and now they’re going to let foreigners represent our country by making them Malaysian citizens.

The selection committee of FAM has got their priority wrong. No way should the national team be membered by anyone without actual Malaysian parents. What a shame. Not that this player will immediately catapult us to the World Cup.

Citizenship is irreversible and should be awarded with great care.

Notanonymous: It’s normal for any country to fast track citizenship of someone they think will do the country proud or simply said, people they consider "superstars" - CEOs of big corporations, Nobel winners, Olympic gold medallists, etc.

The main point of contention in this article is twofold:

1. Why do "superstars" always come from a certain group?

2. Why does normal naturalisation take such a long time?

Item 1 is here to stay and probably will get worse after GE15. Only item 2 can be solved and our dear MPs should work on it.

Anonymous 7702: Is Krasniqi the only one or are there more of such people awarded citizenship or permanent residence (PR)?

How many of these cases have been fast-tracked? Why and how have they contributed to the betterment of this nation? Have they passed the tests? Did they even attend an interview?

There are thousands of not only children but adults who have been waiting for years for their papers. Some foreign spouses have waited at least a decade.

If there is a technical problem like missing documents, the chances of getting even PR status becomes impossible or the waiting period takes their entire lives. In the meantime, they are denied schooling, medical treatment and jobs. They may be treated worse than refugees.

Pakatan Harapan, why such cruelty and now this practice of favouritism or double standards? This is surely a disappointment for the hundreds of thousands of Malaysians waiting on their family members to get their papers.

Jaded: "In spite of a regime change after the 14th General Election, dark hidden hands seem to prevail and monopolise the awarding of citizenship to certain people, bending rules and also contradicting the spirit of laws in the country that unfortunately everyone else is subject to," wrote Kasturi.

So, who exactly dictates these approvals? What is the protocol? What are the reasons for the delays? Who are the hidden hands?

If changing the government can't or does not expose all these, then seriously what will?

It's frustrating that we as Malaysians have to tolerate these insidious dark hidden hands. By all means, expose them in broad daylight.

Falcon: Another towering monument of injustice. A self-serving shameless group of powerful individuals, some in shadows, again showing Malaysians and the world that injustice and selfish short-term policy initiatives are their way of life.

This is unacceptable and an abomination to democratic principles practised by one truly civilised.

Kangkung: We voted for change - change in the way we do things - but it looks like what we got is the exact copy of the previous government where the rich and famous get their citizenship approved at lightning speed.

Meanwhile, children of our own citizens married to foreign spouses are considered foreigners. The old government might have been thieves and racists, but at least they were not liars.

Anon 9375: Many Malaysians marry foreigners who come here to live and raise their families. Among them are professionals, who hope to work and pay their taxes.

Yet, even getting PR can and does take many years. It takes five years minimum before you can even apply for that status. Then approval can take another five to 10 years or more. During that time, holding a job is difficult due to the bureaucratic hurdles you face.

Anonymous_0cb0: What's worse is that children of parents who are illiterate, and do not know the procedures to register their children (with some even given the run around by authorities) and those born in the estates, are unable to obtain citizenship.

Even after years of appealing to the relevant authorities, they are unsuccessful. So, where's the equality or compassion to our own Malaysians?

Shovelnose: The moral of this story is stateless kids born to Malaysian parent(s) must be a talented footballer.

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