LETTER | National Registration Department director-general Badril Hisham Alias released the latest statistics on the number of Malaysians who have relinquished their citizenship in the past five years.

The figure, according to New Straits Times, stands at 61,116. It should definitely concern Malaysians.

Did they just wake up one morning and casually decide to surrender their citizenship? They did so steadily over five years in several directions, with Singapore being the favourite.

That fact alone should shatter the comforting myth that this is merely about “personal choice” or “family reasons”.

When 93.78 percent of those renouncing Malaysian citizenship choose one neighbouring country, the issue is not migration. It is systemic failure.

Citizenship, in theory, is supposed to represent belonging, opportunity, and protection. However, for a growing number of Malaysians - especially those in their prime working years - it has become an economic handicap.

Lower wages, slower career mobility, rising cost of living, and weak social safety nets turn being a Malaysian into a financial sacrifice.

The numbers tell a brutal story. The largest group relinquishing citizenship is aged 21 to 40, representing young professionals, skilled workers, and parents raising families.

These are precisely the people Malaysia claims it wants to retain. Instead, we are exporting them.

Women leading the exodus

Women are leading this trend, with over 35,000 of them renouncing their citizenship.

And it is not simply due to marriage. It reflects how Malaysia’s policies repeatedly place women in impossible positions - between family unity and legal status, between children’s security and national allegiance.

When the system forces families to choose, families will choose survival over symbolism.

The Singapore factor exposes an uncomfortable truth. Malaysia competes directly with Singapore and is losing badly.

It is not because Singapore “steals” our people, but because it offers what Malaysia increasingly does not - predictable wages, dignified work, efficient governance, and a future that feels planned rather than improvised.

Dual citizenship idea

Yet, instead of asking why citizens leave, we cling to rigid citizenship laws that punish global mobility. Malaysia’s refusal to recognise dual citizenship may satisfy legal purists, but in practice, it pushes talented Malaysians into permanent exit rather than continued engagement.

Citizenship revocation for voting abroad may be constitutional, but it is also self-defeating. In a globalised economy, this rigidity does not protect sovereignty; it shrinks it.

No country can “patriotism-shame” its way out of an economic problem. People do not abandon Malaysia because they hate it. They leave because Malaysia is no longer working for them.

If this trend continues, the question will no longer be about how many Malaysians are leaving but who’s left to build the country.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.