KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob has given his commitment to assist Rohana Abdullah, who was abandoned as a two-month-old baby at a kindergarten 22 years ago after her Indonesian mother returned to her country.

       This was stated by the Prime Minister through a video shared on the social media account of his press secretary Asyraf Afnan Ahmad Murtadza.

       In the posting, Ismail Sabri, who was seen in his vehicle, contacted Rohana to get a true picture of the difficulties faced by her.

       He said he found out about the difficulties experienced by Rohana after reading it in the newspaper.

       The Prime Minister said his officer would contact the National Registration Department to assist with Rohana’s documentation.

       “If there is any (development) later, my officer will contact you,” Bernama quoted him as saying in the video.

       Rohana was also heard thanking the Prime Minister and hoping that he could help her.

       It had been reported that Rohana, 22, was abandoned by her mother.

       Her mother was married to a local man but he disappeared after Rohana’s birth.

       She has since been raised by Chee Hoi Lan, 83, who was a kindergarten teacher where Rohana’s mother worked as a cleaner.

       Chee was reported to have looked into all her needs, including sending her to religious lessons so that she knew the basics of Islam.

       In the meantime, Ismail Sabri, through a posting on his Facebook page, also thanked Chee for taking care of Rohana with love.

       He said Rohana was brought up well and received Islamic religious education although Chee is of a different religion.

       “InsyaAllah, for the sake of Rohana’s future, I will assist her in getting her citizenship and identity card.

       “To Chee Hoi Lan, thank you – best regards from me for taking of Rohana with boundless love,” he said.

       Rohana has been facing problems as she has no identification documents.

       Chee had brought up the issue of Rohana not having citizenship with Batu Zone Residents’ Representative Council chairman, Gulam Muszaffar Ghulam Mustakim.

       Earlier yesterday, social media users welcomed the Home Minister’s instruction to look into Rohana’s case.

       In a Facebook post, Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin said he was moved by Rohana’s plight and had instructed his office to investigate the case.

       Netizens flooded the comment section on Hamzah’s Facebook, saying that Rohana deserves to be Malaysian.

       “Thank you, Datuk Seri. I think cases as such should be made top most priority and we hope this poor girl gets to see the light of the day very soon,” said a Facebook user.

       There were also comments saying that the minister should probe similar cases as well, where children were barred from receiving formal education due to documentation issues.