New Malaysia’s old problems

FROM B1

- 

good conduct and being able to speak the Malay language.

He admitted using his ministerial discretion to waive the residency requirement — hence the lawyers’ argument to FIFA that the players’ lack of residency was a nonissue.

What has rankled is his defence of JPN even as FIFA has set out in detail the role the fraudulent documents played in the saga, and how JPN issued Malaysian birth certificates for the grandparents that were then used by FAM to support the players’ eligibility case.

For many, that stance is indefensible. How a national authority failed to perform these same basic checks raises, at minimum, the spectre of incompetence and at worst, malfeasance.

It does not help Mr Saifuddin that granting citizenship is already a sensitive political subject, given that the status of Malaysian-born stateless people remains a “third-rail” topic.

As social media users have pointed out, this sits awkwardly alongside a March 2024 clip of the Home Minister visiting a centre administering the Malay language knowledge test for elderly stateless people applying for citizenship.

He is seen asking them basic questions such as “Apa khabar?” (How are you?), “Hari ini sudah makan?” (Have you eaten today?) and “Rumah di mana?” (Where is your home?). Naturally, many have asked if the seven players were subjected to similar scrutiny.

THE ROYAL CONNECTION

There is another delicate matter: royal involvement.