An Indonesian woman receives Malaysian citizenship.
Rohana Abdullah, a 22-year-old lady who was abandoned by her Indonesian birth mother and raised by a Malaysian Chinese woman, cried tears of pleasure today as she accepted the letter from Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin awarding her Malaysian citizenship status.
She returned to her seat after receiving the letter and gave her adoptive mother, Chee Hoi Lan, 83, a firm embrace before leaving the ceremony.
According to Hamzah, Rohana was moved by the gesture while on stage receiving the letter.
She (Rohana) cried on stage as she stated that she had been waiting for a long time for a decision on her citizenship application. She thanked the authorities for their assistance.
At the event held at the Home Ministry, Rohana was one of 34 people aged five to 24 who earned Malaysian citizenship.
The federal government has a specific power under Article 15A of the Federal Constitution to register a person under the age of 21 as a citizen.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob was approached by Rohana about her citizenship difficulty, and he offered to help her with her paperwork.
Rohana was supposedly abandoned by her biological mother, an Indonesian citizen, when she was two months old, and was raised by Chee, a teacher at a kindergarten where she also worked as a cleaner.
