Media statement by Dr. Hiew King Cheu in Kota Kinabalu on Friday, 1^st July 2011:

Alarming issuance of MyCard and Permanent Resident card to foreigners

The huge number of the Malaysian MyCard and Permanent Resident card being issued in Sabah had caused great concern among the Sabahan. The huge increase in the population in Sabah over the past years is alarming, and had created doubts on why there is such a quick jump in the number. This is especially so on how the foreigners from Philippine and Indonesia can easily obtain our Malaysia identity and become permanent residents.

I have brought this matter to Parliament and he asked the Ministry of Home Affair how many MyCard and PR was issued in Sabah during the period from January to June 2011, and how many of these people are from Philippine and Indonesia.

The reply came as a true surprise, and the figure is alarming. The ministry replied that according to the record of the National Registration Department (JPN), there are 91,190 MyCard and 7,323 MyPR being approved and issued during the month from January to June 2011 in Sabah, and these includes the people who originated from Philippine and Indonesia.

The reply did not give details on the numbers of the foreigners from Philippine and Indonesia, but the ministry answered that the huge figure had included the foreigners. This is truly an ugly sight that even the ministry had confirmed to us that there are actually many foreigners had obtained the Malaysian MyCard and MyPR.

It is no secret to all Sabahan that the many foreigners can easily become Malaysian. The election petition case in Likas last time had produced some proof, and many books had been written and published on this issue.

Why there is such a big number of up to 91,190 MyCard being issued by the JPN in Sabah in a short period of six months, and the same to the 7,323 MyPR. The figures are alarming enough and how can they issued such a huge number of cards within six months. It is just six months already 91,190 cards, what happen for one year, 200,000 cards? Where are these people come from, and are we reproducing rapidly? This calculated to about almost 10% annual population increment. The high figure on the 7,323 MyPR issued is another area that we have question on.

I want the JPN to explain why foreigners can obtain MyCard and MyPR so easily, and so many 'Red card' holders in Sabah still have no chance to be given the MyCard. This is not fair to these people who had served and help with the development of Sabah for their entire life. Many of them are already having three generations in Sabah.

* Dr Hiew King Cheu, MP for Kota Kinabalu