MALAYSIANS KINI The piece of card with our most basic details as a citizen may be something many Malaysians take for granted.

But for those living in the rural areas - particularly in Sabah and Sarawak - the simple process of applying for a Malaysian identification card or MyKad could pose a real challenge.

This realisation has inspired Mujan Jok, an Orang Ulu activist from the Kayan tribe, to sacrifice her time to assist her fellow Orang Ulus living around Baram, Sarawak, in securing their identity as a Malaysian.

Together with the Baram Kini association, since 2012, the full-time housewife and mother-of-three have personally helped hundreds of Orang Ulus to make the journey from their villages all the way to Miri, the nearest big town.

For many of the villagers, the journey would involve added costs that most could ill afford, especially for the ones who earn a daily income or wage.

Not only do they have to pass through almost non-existent proper roads towards town, more than that is having the mental strength to overcome unfamiliar and often times, unclear bureaucratic processes.

All this just to submit their application for a document to be officially recognised as a Malaysian citizen

Here is Mujan’s story in her own words:

I CAN ONLY HELP TO OFFER THEM MY HOUSE. Financially I can't support them because I also have my own family.

What I do is I contribute my energy to bring them to the Immigration Department and commissioner for oaths.

I also accompany them to meet the village heads when it is required.

THEY WILL SLEEP AT MY HOUSE UNTIL THE PROCESS IS OVER. Sometimes up to five days, the fastest was three days.

There could be up to 20 or 30 of them at any one time.

At the very minimum I would have six or seven people sleeping over and I cover all the costs.

I do not get any help from anyone. What I eat, they too will share the same meal.

ALL THE PROCESSES TO MAKE A MYKAD ARE DONE IN MIRI. Sometimes we would personally go inside the villages to find those who might have been overlooked because there are many who are scared to go out because they do not a MyKad.

They are afraid of the police, immigration, but especially the police. Our people, you just threaten them a little bit and they will be scared.

MYKADS ARE IMPORTANT FOR PEOPLE IN THE INTERIORS. All the privileges that we enjoy, they don’t.

We do not want them to continue being riddled with this problem. So we take the initiative to bring them out of the villages so that they can get the same privileges as those living outside.

ONE OF THE MAIN REASON IS SO THAT THEIR CHILDREN CAN GO TO SCHOOL AND CHANGE THEIR LIVES. Also health care and other government assistance.

BR1M, subsidies for farmers, food baskets from the health ministry for families with malnourished children, they can then get all these help.

WHEN THEY GO OUT TO WORK, FOR EXAMPLE AS LOGGERS, THEY NEED A MYKAD FOR SECURITY. Otherwise, if there are any incidents or accidents, death...It would be in vain and without any compensation.

Their children's future will not be secured.

Another thing is health care. If they go to the nearest clinic in the interiors, the ones with MyKad only need to pay RM1, but those without must pay RM15.

Their daily income does not reach RM15 so how can they afford to pay RM15?

FOR THE CHILDREN WITH NO MYKAD, I FEAR FOR THEIR FUTURE. Now education is more important than ever. If they don't go to school, how would they learn to read? How would they get an education?

And worse, if they go to town, it would be easy for others to cheat them. For the girls, they may be used because they are innocent and ignorant.

So it is also a security issue.

IN MY OWN FAMILY THIS PROBLEM ALSO EXISTS. My own aunt and her three siblings.

Four of them went to apply for their MyKads but only the eldest and youngest got it. The two middle siblings did not.

From this, in my heart I feel anger.

I want to fight for the natives' rights.

THE APPLICATIONS WERE REJECTED DUE TO LACK OF DNA EVIDENCE. How to perform the DNA test? Orang Ulu do not have a steady monthly income.

Many survive on daily wages. For one person, the cost is RM1,500 and for two people, this would already be RM3,000.

To make things more complicated, their parents have passed away. So how to get DNA? Do we need to dig up their graves and retrieve their bones?

OUR TATTOOS ARE TRUE PROOF OF OUR IDENTITIES. For us Kayans, the tattoos on our hands, feet, that in itself show our true status as natives of the land.

THERE ARE ABOUT 20,000 ORANG ULUS WITH NO MYKADS. But there are more Pati (pendatang asing tanpa izin, illegal immigrants). Why are they given special rights?

Those rights should be given to us. The real natives. In our area, Ladang Tiga, there are 3,000 Pati who have been given MyKads.

NONE HAS BEEN ARRESTED SO FAR FOR NOT HAVING A MYKAD. But they are still fearful.

Sometimes there are threats.

Village heads threatened them, “if you don't give up your land to this company (for plantation), I will report you to the police”. Those kinds of threats happened.

THE VILLAGE HEADS CAN BE A CHALLENGE. Some of them even accused us of trying to disunite the villagers.

In terms of politics, the ones helping us now are mostly from PKR because they seem to sympathise with the natives in Sarawak.

BN used to do it but only to get votes. After the elections, all their promises were left unfulfilled.

THE PRIME MINISTER CAME TO MIRI IN 2013 AND WE HELD A DEMONSTRATION. We had a blockade along the road from the airport to show our numbers, but he escaped through a 'jalan tikus' (side road).

We chased him all the way to Mega Hotel and was told that only two of us can go in, myself and Roland Engan, to meet with Prime Minister Najib Razak's secretary.

He promised us that he would arrange a meeting with the prime minister. But to this day, it had been three years and nothing.

On March 28 this year I submitted a memorandum to the Immigration Department, and then held a press conference in Parliament. There was no feedback.

Now we are back in KL and once again urging to expedite the process of awarding MyKads.

WE FELT FRUSTRATED AND UPSET. Why can the government so easily give away MyKads to Pati?

According to the procedure, when we Orang Ulu want to apply, we must show our birth certificate. These foreigners do not have a birth certificate or even village head but suddenly they just ended up staying there and given a MyKad.

We grumbled, we pleaded. We want this issue to be given consideration by any parties who can assist us. But so far, none has come forward to meet and offer us cooperation.

I URGE BOTH SIDES TO GIVE US COOPERATION AND TEMPORARILY SET ASIDE POLITICS. And once the MyKads have been issued, we still can't politicise it because voting is a democratic right.

We are in a democratic space so none can prevent another person to vote for one party or the other.

That is their right to vote for what they think is right and reject what they think is wrong.

That would be up to them.

I WILL CONTINUE THIS STRUGGLE UNTIL MY LAST BREATH. For my people the Orang Ulus.

I have to defend our rights.

Malaysians Kini is a series on Malaysians you should know.

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