Non-Malaysian Kid Allegedly Marked With ‘X’ On Arm To Note Exemption From School Vaccination Programme
A girl who has a Malaysian mother but is not a citizen herself was allegedly marked with an ‘X’ on her arms by nurses at her school to identify her as a non-recipient of vaccination.
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Children in Malaysia who do not have Malaysian citizenship do not get to enjoy a lot of benefits.
Among those without Malaysian citizenship are children born to Malaysian mothers who married a non-Malaysian man as under the laws, the Malaysian mother cannot confer her citizenship to her children.
The amendment to the Federal Constitution to enable children born abroad to Malaysian mothers to gain automatic Malaysian citizenship is expected to be tabled in the Dewan Rakyat soon. Even so, it might take some time before the changes can come into full effect.
READ MORE: Cabinet Agrees To Enable Automatic Citizenship For Overseas-Born Children To Malaysian Mothers
READ MORE: Ever Wonder How A Law Gets Passed In Malaysia? We’ll Also Tell You Why It Takes So Long
Before the Federal Constitution is amended, a child born abroad like Sumalini’s daughter has to suffer the “consequences.”
Due to her non-citizen status, Sumalini claimed that her daughter was exempted from receiving the vaccinations that are given to all Standard 1 students.
According to Family Frontiers on Twitter, the nurses in school allegedly marked Sumalini’s daughter’s arms with an ‘X’ and made her stand aside.
Sumalini’s daughter has to put up with other challenges such as difficulties obtaining visas and spending extra as a foreigner as compared to her brother who has Malaysian citizenship because he was born here.
“Since she isn’t Msian, she couldn’t qualify for her Std 1 vaccinations that are only given to Msians.
— Family Frontiers #sayaJUGAanakMalaysia (@FamilyFrontiers) March 14, 2023
To identify her as a non-recipient, the nurses marked an ‘X’ on her arms & made her stand aside,”
This was what Sumalini’s child faced as a non-Msian child of a Msian mom. pic.twitter.com/PlYFCr37ux
These challenges made Sumalini’s daughter feel alienated and not cared for by the people around her.
Her non-citizen status also meant she couldn’t join in school activities fully such as participating in competitions despite being a high-performing student.
Sumalini claimed her daughter wasn’t allowed to join the Nilam programme which is a reading programme in schools. This allegedly made her child lose interest in reading and writing, according to Sumalini.
According to My Positive Parenting, the National Immunisation Programme (PIK) provides free vaccination for all children.
However, individuals with non-Malaysian citizenship are subjected to a small fee for vaccinations since 2015.
TRP has reached out to the Health Ministry and they said they would look into the allegations.
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