Saturday August 28, 2010
Man obtains birth cert at 67
MALACCA: It was double joy for 67-year-old Taib Abdullah from Bukit Baru who received his duit raya (cash) early and also obtained his much-awaited birth certificate. The birth certificate was handed to the wheelchair-bound Taib by Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam at Dewan Kasturi, Ayer Keroh here in conjunction with Hari Raya.
Taib was among 100 recipients, including underprivileged single mothers, senior citizens and poor families, who were presented with duit raya and Hari Raya goodies. Stepbrother Wali Mohamed Abd Rahman, 57, said this would be one of the happiest Hari Raya celebrations for his family now that Taib had obtained proper identification papers.
Citizen at last: A proud Taib(right) and stepbrother Wali with Taib’s birth certificate.
“Taib was born in the jungle in Muar (Johor) during the Japanese occupation and my mother never applied for a birth certificate for him. She passed away about a year ago and I felt responsible for applying for a birth certificate for Taib,” he said after the ceremony. He recounted the difficulties the family faced in seeking medical help for Taib at hospitals due to the lack of identification papers.
“I had to use my own documents for my stepbrother to get treatment,” said Wali Mohamed, adding that he finally sought help from the Malacca Barisan Nasio_nal’s service centre in Bukit Katil about three months ago. Wali Mohamed said the family was also hopeful that the state National Registration Department would issue the MyKad to Taib.
