Many overseas-born children of Malaysian mothers joyfully celebrated their first Malaysia Day after recently being granted citizenship.
The celebration, titled "Ibu Merdeka buat Ibu Pertiwi," was organised by the non-governmental organisation Family Frontiers Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday (Sept 21) .
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The celebration, titled "Ibu Merdeka buat Ibu Pertiwi," was organised by the non-governmental organisation Family Frontiers Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday (Sept 21) .
WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news
SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar
LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline
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NewsTranscript
00:00For many overseas-born children of Malaysian mothers,
00:04celebrating their first Malaysia Day after finally being granted citizenship
00:08following years of struggle is a deeply emotional milestone
00:12as they embrace their rightful place in the nation.
00:15The event, titled Ibu Merdeka Buat Ibu Pertiwi,
00:19was organized by the non-governmental organization
00:22Family Frontiers Malaysia and held on Saturday in Kuala Lumpur.
00:27It was officiated by Datuk Mahzan Mahyuddin,
00:30Deputy Secretary-General for Policy and Control at the Home Affairs Ministry.
00:34The mothers, undeterred by the long and arduous process,
00:37never gave up in their fight for their children's rights to citizenship.
00:41So we moved back to Malaysia two years ago
00:44and coming back with a non-citizen husband and daughter is not easy.
00:49And then every year since we've been back, I have to go to immigration twice.
00:54Once to do my husband's visa and then my daughter's visa.
00:57They gave my husband two years,
00:58but they refused to give my two, three-year-old daughter a two-year visa.
01:03They gave her annual.
01:06But the good news is that about a month ago,
01:09we got a letter to say that Alma's citizenship has been approved.
01:14And two weeks ago, I got her citizenship document.
01:17Between 2018 and 2023, 2024, this year, I was still waiting.
01:24And this year with the new government, they've been approving a lot of mothers.
01:29And I was one of the lucky mothers who got her citizenship approved in February of this year.
01:34I'm extremely relieved that she has it now because it makes life so much better.
01:41All the things you heard today as well, education, healthcare, all of the stuff,
01:45it's just a pressure off our mind.
01:49Family Frontier's President Adeline Adam Teo shared her joy for the mothers who succeeded.
01:53But noted that many are still fighting to secure citizenship for their children.
01:58She expressed hope that the upcoming constitutional amendment
02:01would provide the necessary support to resolve this issue.
02:04There are many mothers still affected.
02:06The mothers are in Malaysia and they are also living overseas.
02:11Their applications are still pending.
02:13We would like to see the government continue to expedite.
02:17Please treat them as priority because these are children
02:19and they're growing up every day, right?
02:21They're getting bigger and bigger.
02:23Expedite this.
02:24We also would like to urge the amendment that is coming up,
02:27the constitutional amendment, to be retroactive in nature.