KUCHING: Imagine finding you’re dead. That happened to 71-year-old Low Choo Choon who had the shock of a lifetime when he found out he was listed as “dead” by the national registration system.
Low was trying to lodge a police report after losing a deed to a gravesite that was under his name. It was then that the policeman informed him of his “death”.
“I have been working at a funeral home for so many years but I never thought that I would be listed as ‘dead’,” the hearse driver said, as quoted by local daily China Press.
Low said he and his wife had purchased a two-person gravesite about two decades ago. He then wanted to transfer the deed to a relative, with financial considerations prompting him to opt for a cremation package instead.
He has since, lodged a complaint to the national registration department (JPN) and was told that it would take two weeks to process the change in his status, but has yet to obtain any updates from the department.
Low said he also could not get his road tax renewed when he went to the road transport department twice, though he managed to renew it for half a year after making multiple requests.
“If my (status) does not get updated, I worry that my bank account and assets will get frozen,” he said at a press conference with Johor’s Senai assemblyman Wong Bor Yang. Low had sought Wong’s help over the matter late last month.
Since Low has been classified as “dead”, he was also unable to cast his ballot at the Johor state elections in March. However, he had no issues during the 14th general election in May 2018.
Both Wong and Low was scheduled to meet the Johor’s NRD but was postponed after the investigation team’s director was quarantined.
However, with Wong’s help, the investigation team’s director handed over Low’s application documents to the department to speed up the process.
