I refer to the letter JPN on the lookout for illegitimate Malay children .

In her letter Dr Yati Hewett expressed her dismay at the National Registration Department (NRD) for omitting the father's name from a child's birth certificate if the child is considered born out of wedlock.

This is something that has been going on for a very long time now. It began after 1999, when Malaysians had to record their religions in the Identification Card (IC). This matter has been raised again and again in Sabah, yet nothing seems to have been done. In fact, some readers have even complained to the mainstream Sabahan press and the Malaysian Human Rights Commission.

According to the Registration of Births and Deaths Ordinance (1951) of which all birth registrations in Sabah are subjected to, there is no provision saying that a father's name should be omitted if a child is born out of wedlock. However the NRD disregards this ordinance to implement its own policy. As a result many Sabahans - especially poor rural folk who know little of the law - have children who are officially ‘fatherless’.

Some Sabahans who could afford it have engaged lawyers. A lawyer friend of mine told me that such cases are increasing as parents fight to include the father's name in a birth certificate.

What is even worrying is the NRD's definition of children born out of wedlock. Firstly, in many parts of rural Sabah, mixed-marriages between Muslims and Christians are common and these marriages are registered according to Native Law. Marriages conducted under Native Law are endorsed by the Native Court which is given power through the Natives Court Enactment 1992 and the Federal Constitution. This enactment does not limit the jurisdiction of the natives courts to religious adherence, but based on ethnicity.

Though the Natives Court Enactment includes a provision which says that it shall not have jurisdiction over matters within the powers of the Syariah Court, it also includes a a section which says that the natives court have jurisdiction over marriages where one person is a native. Furthermore, the Native Court has handled marriages involving Muslims long before the establishment of the Syariah Courts in Sabah.

Secondly, the NRD also considers marriages conducted by priests and pastors who are not qualified as Assistant Registrars under the Law Reform Act 1976 as null and void. Many Sabahan natives who are Christians prefer to be married in the parish of their area. Sometimes the parish priest or pastor is not registered according to the Law Reform Act but it is lawful according to their faith and a certificate of marriage is duly presented to the newly-weds by the church. But when these couples have a child the NRD would not register the father's name in the birth certificate because the child is considered illegitimate!

Thirdly, in cases of Muslim marriages, where a child is born in less than six months of his or her parents' marriage, the child would not have his or her father's name on the birth certificate.

This is a gross violation of parents’ rights. It also humiliates the child by the time he or she is enrolled in school, because the child is considered illegitimate. And finally, it is also a violation of the Births and Deaths Registration Ordinance of Sabah.

The duty of the Registrar of Births has nothing to do with ensuring parents are properly married or not. His or her duty is to ensure that every new birth is properly registered and that the name of the mother and father are included in the registration.

The NRD has no right to break up family ties by refusing to have the father's name on the birth certificate. The NRD's action is high-handed, cruel and humiliating. It causes a lot of emotional distress for families concerned.

We hope that the NRD puts an end to this practice once and for all. It is also hoped that members of Parliament who are reading this, be they government MPs or opposition MPs would voice this out in Parliament.