NRD arrest 10 people involved in fake MyKad syndicate

TAWAU, Dec 22 — The National Registration Department (NRD) arrested 10 people, including two men believed to be the mastermind of a fake  identity card syndicate (MyKad), in raids on a hotel and a house in Kampung Tanjung Batu last night.

Its Investigations and Enforcement director, Mohamad Yusri Hashim said the six-hour operation began with the raid on a hotel room which busted a fake identity card syndicate active in Tawau, Semporna and Lahad Datu.

“We arrested two masterminds, who are locals aged 50 and 44 years, and a 30 year-old Filipino woman, believed to be the one who took photographs and fingerprints of applicants for fake MyKad,” he told reporters after the operation ended early today.

They also seized 29 fake MyKad, fake US$ 17,100, fake RM200, RM3,839, two vehicles, a Naza Citra and Proton and equipment to take fingerprints of the applicants.

“We also seized bank cards, driving licences, eight mobile phones, a book containing 400 up to 500 names of fake MyKad applicants and bank receipts worth tens of thousands.”

Yusri said the raid in Kampung Tanjung Batu led to the arrest of a family of seven including twins, who are believed to be agents of the fake identity card syndicate.

“All those arrested are Indonesians and consist of four men and three women aged between 20 and 60 years-old,” he added.

The operation last night followed the arrest of seven people, including three agents of a fake identity card syndicate, in Sandakan last month. — Bernama

http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/nrd-arrest-10-people-involved-in-fake-mykad-syndicate

Muslims, converts need not include ‘bin’, ‘binti’ in their names, evangelical group says

BY YISWAREE PALANSAMY

In Malaysia, the words 'bin' and 'binti' are commonly used for a child of Malay ethnicity, with these patronyms denoting whether someone is respectively a man’s son or daughter. — Picture by Choo Choy May
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 9 — Muslims and those who convert to Islam have the freedom to choose their own names and they need not include the words “bin” or “binti”, a Muslim evangelical group has said.

Weighing in on the controversy surrounding the National Registration Department’s (NRD) unilateral decision to include the word “bin” to a Chinese Muslim boy’s name, the Multiracial Reverted Muslims (MRM) said that there is no such compulsory requirement in Islam.

"Before I answer the question, let's understand the meaning of bin or binti. Bin means 'the son of' meanwhile binti means 'the daughter of'.

“There is no clear evidence that one must put bin or binti when someone becomes a Muslim, in the Quran or Hadith,” MRM president Firdaus Wong Wai Hung, a Muslim convert and Islamic preacher told Malay Mail Online.

"There is one evidence in Surah Al-Ahzab, Chapter 33, Verse no. 5 which says; ‘Call them by [the names of] their fathers’ — but this is related to surname rather than the issue that we are discussing now.

"If a Chinese in Malaysia becomes a Muslim, they can fully retain the original name or they have the option to add on any name with good meaning. It is up to them," Wong explained.

The incident involving the Chinese Muslim boy was reported by local vernacular daily China Press, who quoted the 45-year-old unnamed boy's father as saying that the Immigration Department officer had told him that the addition of the word “bin” was based on the NRD’s data.

According to a Chinese-Muslim businessman in Kuantan by the surname of Khoo, he had discovered the name change two years ago when he was applying for a passport for his eldest son — who had then yet to turn nine.

The news report did not mention the name of the relevant Islamic body which had allegedly given the advice to NRD.

He also said that the addition of the word “bin” to his son’s name was unnecessary, as he was a Muslim but had not changed his ethnicity to be Malay.

The paper reported that the matter was later resolved with the boy having his original name restored, after the father reportedly threatened to pursue legal action.

"They can retain their original name as long as the meaning of the name is good and not the name of deities or names with no meaning or bad meaning. This applies to all including those born Muslims too.

"Normally those from Indian or Sikh background they will have bin or binti to the name of their biological father. Example is Shah Kirit a/l Kakulal Govindji, but once he becomes Muslim, he (may choose to) retain his name, but just change from anak lelaki to bin — Shah Kirit bin Kakulal Govindji," Wong said.

"Everyone should be given the freedom to choose the names they desire as long as it doesn't go against the law of the land and touch on the sensitivity of others. For NRD to add bin or binti to a children (sic) when their parents never agreed to it is not something that NRD should do in the first place," he said adding that those who convert to Islam are not automatically Malays or even Arabs.

In Malaysia, the words “bin” and “binti” are commonly used for a child of Malay ethnicity, with these patronyms denoting whether someone is respectively a man’s son or daughter.

Being a Muslim is often closely associated with being Malay in Malaysia despite religious and ethnic identity being separate matters, as the Federal Constitution’s Article 160 defines a Malay as being among other things a “person who professes the religion of Islam, habitually speaks the Malay language, conforms to Malay custom”.

This has led to problems in east Malaysia, with reported cases of multiple non-Muslim natives in Sabah being wrongly registered by the NRD as Muslims due to the “bin” and “binti” titles in their names.

Last November 12, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak assured Sabahans that the government had no hidden agenda to furtively convert non-Muslims, adding that it was not an Islamic practice to force people to change their religions against their will.

Najib had then said it was the “little Napoleons” that create such problems and that sometimes there was misinterpretation, adding that ways to solve this problem must be found.

http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/muslims-converts-need-not-include-bin-binti-in-their-names-evangelical-grou

NRD backs down after unilaterally adding ‘bin’ to Chinese-Muslim child’s name

The queue at the National Registration Department in Putrajaya is seen in this file picture taken on July 22, 2016. The NRD has reversed its unilateral addition of the word ‘bin’ to the name of a Chinese-Muslim child in its records. — Bernama pic
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 5 — The National Registration Department (NRD) has reversed its unilateral addition of the word “bin” to the name of a Chinese-Muslim child in its records.

According to a Chinese-Muslim businessman in Kuantan by the surname of Khoo, he had discovered the name change two years ago when he was applying for a passport for his eldest son — who had then yet to turn nine.

The 45-year-old man reportedly said the Immigration Department of Malaysia officer had then told him that the addition of the word “bin” was based on the NRD’s data.

“I took out my son’s birth registration papers to check, in the column for name, there is no ‘bin’ at all, I went to meet the National Registration Department’s officer, requesting for an explanation, the latter pointed out it was upon receiving the Islamic department’s advice, for Muslim children’s names without the word ‘Bin’, to add in that word,” he was quoted saying by local daily China Press.

The news report did not mention the name of the relevant Islamic body which had allegedly given the advice to NRD.

He said he could not accept the reason given and had pressed the NRD officer to point out which page of the Muslims’ holy book al-Quran had stated so.

“I also told them, if the name is not restored to its original form with the word ‘Bin’ removed, I do not discount pursuing this further using legal means,” he was also reported saying.

He also said that the addition of the word “bin” to his son’s name was unnecessary, as he was a Muslim but had not changed his ethnicity to be a Malay.

“Finally, the officer allowed my son’s name to be restored,” he said, adding that he found that his youngest son’s name had not been similarly affected.

“The National Registration Department is a body that registers the names of citizens, it is not a religious body, should not unilaterally change the name and information of citizens,” he added.

In Malaysia, the words “bin” and “binti” are commonly used for a child of Malay ethnicity, with these patronyms denoting whether someone is respectively a man’s son or daughter.

Being a Muslim is often closely associated with being a Malay in Malaysia despite religious and ethnic identity being separate matters, as the Federal Constitution’s Article 160 defines a Malay as being among other things a “person who professes the religion of Islam, habitually speaks the Malay language, conforms to Malay custom”.

This has led to problems in east Malaysia, with reported cases of multiple non-Muslim natives in Sabah being wrongly registered by the NRD as Muslims due to the “bin” and “binti” titles in their names.

Last November 12, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak assured Sabahans that the government had no hidden agenda to furtively convert non-Muslims, adding that it was not an Islamic practice to force people to change their religions against their will.

Najib had then said it was the “little Napoleons” that create such problems and that sometimes there was misinterpretation, adding that ways to solve this problem must be found. 

http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/nrd-backs-down-after-unilaterally-adding-bin-to-chinese-muslim-childs-name