WHEN MALAYSIA GAINED INDEPENDENCE IN 1957, MANY WERE LEFT OUT OF THE CITIZENSHIP PROCESS BECAUSE THEY WERE UNEDUCATED RESULTING IN STATELESSNESS. A MISTAKE THAT HAS CAUSED THE SUFFERINGS OF GENERATIONS TO COME. UNLIKE OTHER COUNTRIES,
A STATELESS PERSON IN MALAYSIA ISN’T AN IMMIGRANT.
THEY ARE INDIVIDUALS WHO WERE BORN AND BRED IN MALAYSIA. BUT BECAUSE THEY’RE NOT RECOGNIZED BY LAW AS ONE, THEY ARE DENIED ACCESS TO BASIC RIGHTS SUCH AS EDUCATION, JOBS AND HEALTHCARE. TO DATE, THERE ARE OVER 300,000 STATELESS PEOPLE IN MALAYSIA. AND THE ONLY SOLUTION IS FOR THE GOVERNMENT TO SIGN THE ‘UNHCR 1961 CONVENTION ON THE REDUCTION OF STATELESSNESS’.
WHILE THE SOLUTION IS OUT OF OUR HANDS, WE NEEDED THE PEOPLE TO RALLY BEHIND TO PRESSURE THE GOVERNMENT. OUR FILM WAS THE FINAL PUSH NEEDED FOR THE GOVERNMENT TO GRANT CITIZENSHIP TO ALL STATELESS CHILDREN WITH ONE MALAYSIAN PARENT. A GIANT STEP TOWARDS CHANGE.