Malaysians are now up in arms over alleged double standards pertaining to the thorny subject of citizenship.
This comes after British-born footballer Lee Tuck announced in an Instagram post that he was awarded Malaysian citizenship.
Lee Tuck expresses gratitude
In the post, the 34-year-old midfielder for Malaysia Super League club Sri Pahang wrote that he was grateful to finally be a naturalised Malaysian citizen.
I can finally and officially say I am a Malaysian citizen. I’m truly grateful to obtain Malaysian citizenship. It’s been a tough road with making sacrifices in order to get here but this was an opportunity I couldn’t pass on.
He also thanked Sri Pahang’s top management and owner for their support throughout his citizenship bid.
“I would also like to thank my loving family and close friends.”
Tuck has been part of the Malaysia Super League since 2017, where he first joined Negeri Sembilan before moving to Terengganu FC in 2018, then Sri Pahang last season.
Read his post here:
Not the first foreigner to obtain citizenship
Aside from Lee Tuck, several other foreign footballers have also obtained citizenship through naturalisation in the past.
This includes Gambia-born Mohamadou Sumareh, Kosovo-born Liridon Krasniqi, Brazil-born Guilherme De Paula, Australia-born Quentin Cheng, and Canada-born La’Vere Corbin-Ong.
‘This is unfair!’
On the other hand, news of Tuck’s citizenship struck a sour note among Malaysians, who slammed the government of double standards on social media.
It has also invited criticism from Segambut MP Hannah Yeoh, who sarcastically commented in a Facebook post whether stateless children in the country should become footballers to obtain citizenship.
In August, the Court of Appeal ruled that children born overseas to Malaysian mothers will not be granted citizenship by operation of the law, which sparked outrage among NGOs and several politicians.