The issue of citizenship and mastering the national language has long been debated among Malaysians, where some argue that in order to gain Malaysian citizenship, one has to be proficient in Bahasa Malaysia (BM).
However, there have been cases of individuals who have lived in Malaysia all their lives but are still unable to gain citizenship while foreign footballers sail through the process despite not knowing a word of BM.
Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution has recently been praised and critcised by netizens after he shared a clip of him testing several senior citizens who were looking forward to gaining citizenship on their BM.
Clip shows elderly M’sians taking citizenship BM test
In the close to 3-minutes clip shared on Saifuddin’s X account, it showed him asking several elderly people basic questions in BM such as their favorite food and what they had for their meal at the National Registration Department (KDN) in Perak.
He wrote in the caption that he was on a work visit to oversee the Malay Language Knowledge Test, which is part of the process in applying for citizenship as outlined under Article 19(1) of the Federal Constitution.
“I was there to personally monitor the process of the citizenship BM test and found that several candidates were born before Merdeka but didn’t have valid documents. Therefore, their application will be processed under under Article 19 for naturalisation.
“There is also a syllabus that tests them on their knowledge of common foods eaten in Malaysia as well as major festivals,” he said in the clip.
Saifuddin added that given the age of the candidates, the test was mostly in picture form so that they would be able to keep up with it.
Split reactions
In the comment section, netizens were divided over the citizenship BM test, where some lauded Saifuddin for overseeing the process and making sure the candidates knew basic BM.
On the other hand, some were less than supportive, where they called Saifuddin out for subjecting elderly people to a “cruel” and “humiliating” process.
They also slammed the double standards when awarding citizenship to foreign footballers, who don’t have to take a test for it while those who lived in Malaysia for decades have to.
Watch the clip here:
Rangkuman lawatan kerja saya ke Ujian Pengetahuan Bahasa Melayu bagi permohonan taraf kewarganegaraan dibawah Perkara 19(1) Perlembagaan Persekutuan di Kompleks KDN Ipoh, Perak. #MalaysiaMADANI pic.twitter.com/o0pWCHbC7K
— Saifuddin Nasution Ismail (@saifnasution) March 5, 2024
Do you agree that those who want to apply for citizenship should take the test beforehand? Let us know in the comments!
READ ALSO:
