A routine and mundane activity such as checking the electoral roll can sometimes yield an arcane bit of “dubious mystery” or even perhaps a joyful serendipity.

However, DAP’s Abdul Aziz Isa is not quite sure which of the two he has in his hands.

This is a question that can only be answered by the Election Commission (EC), he said.

While scrutinising the EC’s official website listing personal details of voters in Sarawak yesterday, Aziz, who is DAP Socialist Youth Petrajaya publicity secretary, was “pleasantly surprised” to discover one voter named Mohd Said bin Mohd Arshad Mohd Said.

According to the website, Mohd Said was born on Jan 1, 1868, with an identity card number to prove it.

Speaking to Malaysiakini immediately after discovering the “mysterious Mohd Said”, Aziz said the voter was registered in the Krokop voting district located in the Pujut state constituency and the Miri parliamentary seat.

“If this information is valid as stated, this means Malaysia is currently holding the world record for having a 150-year-old citizen,” he said.

“According to the Guinness World Record, the oldest living person ever recorded until 1997 was a French woman, Jeanne Louise Calmant (born in 1875) who passed away in a nursing home at the age of 122,” Aziz (photo) pointed out.

Aziz is also puzzled as to why the 150-year-old Mohd Said is not recorded in the Guinness World Records as the oldest living person in the world after Calmant.

The current record holder for the oldest living person, according to the Guinness World Records, is Nabi Tajima, a Japanese supercentenarian who is, at the age of 117 years, the oldest verified living person and the last known surviving person born in the 19th century.

She is also the oldest Japanese and Asian person ever and the world's fourth oldest person ever to be validated by modern standards.

Nabi Tajima became the world’s oldest living person after Violet Mosse Brown of Jamaica passed away on Sept 15, 2017 at the age of 117.

“Nevertheless, I personally doubt the EC's listing in the website. But if it is true, I apologise to voter Mohd Said,” Aziz added.

“But if this is untrue, then the EC has the responsibility to clear the list of voters before GE14 to avoid any fraudulent voting by 'phantom voters',” he said.

Aziz said this case raises the question of the legitimacy of the EC as an independent, fair and non-biased polling agency.

“If this matter is not answered, it will indirectly create more concerns and questions about the EC.

“In this regard, I ask that the EC gives an appropriate explanation on this 'mystery voter' by verifying this information,” added Aziz who is also special assistant to Sarawak DAP chairperson Chong Chieng Jen.