IPOH: The High Court here will decide on the citizenship application of a stateless five-year-old girl born in the country to a Malaysian father and a Chinese national mother on Oct 25.

       Justice Abdul Wahab Mohamed set the date after hearing submissions from Ong Yu Shin, Ooi Keng Liang and Datuk Nicholas Kow, the lawyers representing the child.Ong told the court yesterday that the originating summons was filed in December 2019 according to Section 14 1(a) and 1(e) of the Federal Constitution as the child, born in Ipoh on June 24, 2016, is “stateless” and does not hold citizenship or a passport from any country, including Malaysia.

       Speaking to reporters outside the court, Ong said the High Court here had on Sept 4, 2019, declared the girl to be a legitimate child of her parents.

       This was after the 38-year-old father had registered the couple’s marriage at the National Registration Department headquarters in Putrajaya on Sept 5, 2016, about three months after the girl was born.

       Ong said the girl’s younger brother, who was born on Sept 19, 2018, managed to obtain Malaysian citizenship.

       He said the child’s benefits as a non-citizen are limited as she is not able to enjoy rights guaranteed under the Federal Constitution, especially when she starts school not too long from now.

       “She is also bound to encounter difficulties to continue her schooling as entry requirements differ.

       “The child was born in Malaysia and the ‘jus soli’ principle states that a person born in this country must be recognised as a Malaysian citizen and need not be stateless.

       “As such, we will try our best to ensure the child is awarded citizenship.

       “She is the only one in the family who is not a Malaysian citizen while her younger brother was given citizenship after their parents legalised the marriage,” he said. — Bernama