MIRI: It was a joyous day for seven-year-old Jack Chin Jin Jie from Batu Niah as after years of applying, he was finally registered as a Malaysian citizen.
On April 12 this year, the Home Ministry agreed to register the boy as a citizen of Malaysia.
The boy, accompanied by his grandmother, Liu Yen Len, 63, and father Chin shin Chow, 36, a cook in Batu Niah, went to Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) Piasau branch office here yesterday (May 17) morning to thank Assistant Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Sarawak Datuk Sebastian Ting who is also SUPP’s Piasau chairman for his help in assisting the family.
Earlier on, they went to the National Registration Department (JPN) at Miri Urban Transformation Centre (UTC) at Jalan Kwangtung to collect his citizenship certificate.
According to Ting, SUPP Piasau had written and sent in the relevant documents to support the boy’s application for his citizenship.
“We had issued a few letters to support the boy’s application. In November last year, we had followed up on the matter and then on April this year, the Home Ministry approved his application,” Ting said.
The boy was born to a Malaysian father and an Indonesian mother and is the eldest child of two — his three-year-old brother is a Malaysian citizen.
Jack, when asked how he felt upon his status as Malaysian citizen, expressed his happiness and appreciation to Ting for helping him.
“I am happy, and thank you grandpa (Ting) for helping me.”
