'It sucks not belonging anywhere'
The New Paper | Fri, Dec 28, 2012
SINGAPORE - You know that pink identity card
Mr Delvis Ng, 27, had one just like that five years ago. His two younger Singapore-born siblings and his parents have pink ICs.
But, at 22, he was forced to give his up. Like his mother, Mr Ng was also born in Malaysia.
But while she had given up her Malaysian citizenship, he couldn't because of a missing
Now he shuttles between Sarawak and Singapore on temporary travel documents.
Mr Ng grew up in Singapore and did national service here as a storeman in the navy.
According to the law here, when he turned 21, he had to decide to be a Singapore citizen or a
He opted to renounce his Malaysian citizenship before taking the Oath of Renunciation, Allegiance and Loyalty before his 22th birthday.
He was told at the Malaysian embassy that he needed his mother's Malaysian IC to renounce his citizenship. But she no longer kept her Malaysian documents after becoming a Singapore citizen in 1991.
When he turned 22, he had to turn in his pink Singapore IC because he was unable to renounce his Malaysian citizenship.
"It sucks not belonging anywhere," said Mr Ng.
"I've lost count of the number of times I've been to the ICA (Immigration and Checkpoints Authority) and the Malaysian embassy to explain the situation to them. It didn't work," said Mr Ng, who had no documents to prove that he is a Malaysian citizen.
As instructed, he also surrendered his Singapore passport and identity card at the ICA. That meant that he had no documents to get out of the country. It was also difficult for him to find work because he did not have
His life, he said, came to a standstill for about four years. "I couldn't fly anywhere, I couldn't work. I wanted to work so badly."
He had previously worked as a tattoo artist in a studio here for two years, but the owner told him he had to go as she did not want to get into trouble with the authorities.
"I just bummed at home, came up with tattoo
It was only in October last year that he managed to get an emergency passport from the Malaysian embassy here.
This was after his mother, Madam Doris Ak Tambi, 53, went to Kuala Lumpur in the middle of last year to try to get a passport for him - one of the five or six times she has travelled there
She said she was rejected and told to return to the Malaysian embassy here.
"I would spend whole days at the KL office. They looked at me like I was nobody, there to
With the emergency passport, Mr Ng went to Kuala Lumpur to get his Malaysian passport and IC - a measure which, he said, was a last resort to get to work here.
Then came the days of going to and fro, spending 30 days in each country.
Mr Ng's father was an engineer with an oil company when he was sent to Sarawak in 1981 and fell in love with his mother, a Sarawakian Iban. They married in a traditional Iban ceremony and at a church in 1983.
Mr Ng was born in Miri while his Singaporean father was still working there in 1985.
He came to Singapore with his Malaysian mother a few years later, on a shared passport.
He attended Elias Park Primary School and East View Secondary School, later graduating with an engineering diploma from Temasek
Now, during his 30-day stays here on a tourist visa, he lives out of a suitcase in the bedroom
His family of five, all Singaporean save for him, have lived in a Pasir Ris five-room flat for the
Both his 21-year-old brother, who is in NS, and 17-year-old sister, a private school student,
When time's up for Mr Ng, he leaves for Miri, Sarawak, where he was born. He counts the
Flying to Miri is $200, and lodging and transport come to another $900 every month.
He works as a tattoo artist in Miri but his mother ends up sending money because he does not earn enough to cover his expenses.
"I've spent all my savings. I'm supposed to spend it when I'm 55, not now," he said.
"It's tough because my mother (a cancer survivor) is here, my father is here, my friends.
"Over there, I know only a few colleagues. Time
There is hope for him though. About a year ago, Mr Ng approached his MP, Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean, at a Meet-the-People Session and obtained a letter which he took to
He was later able to apply for permanent
While waiting to become a PR, Mr Ng has been trying to fly back for special occasions -including his brother's NS enlistment in
"(My brother's) passing-out parade is in January, I hope to see him then," said Mr Ng.
As Mr Ng's father, who is now with a gas company, travels frequently, Madam Tambi says she misses her eldest son.
"I don't understand, he was a Singaporean from young. Even his father served NS.
"When it gets to his second week, I start to cry. As the eldest, I hope he takes care of the family. What happens when his family falls sick?"
Mr Ng is hoping he will get his PR status. Then maybe, a pink identity card again.
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