Eight-year-old girl is finally a Malaysian

PETALING JAYA: Eight-year-old Mia Teo Herrizon has finally obtained Malaysian citizenship after years of unsuccessful attempts by her mother, says Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong.

The MCA president said he received the news after Mia’s mother Esther Teo told him she finally received her daughter’s citizenship certificate from Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.

“Today, Esther Teo finally received her daughter’s citizenship certificate from the hands of minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail and she is overjoyed,” he said in a Facebook post on Monday (Dec 18).

“Upon receiving notice from the Home Affairs Ministry that her daughter’s application had been approved, she couldn’t contain her joy and shared the good news with me. I am also delighted for her,” he added.

Dr Wee said he first met Esther in Batu Pahat in July this year where she shared the story of giving birth to her daughter overseas (in Germany) and experiencing years of unsuccessful attempts to secure citizenship for Mia.

He promised to assist her and wrote a letter to the Home Affairs Ministry to support her appeal multiple times, and even raised her case during a parliamentary debate session.

While Esther had fulfilled her hope for her daughter’s citizenship, many Malaysian mothers giving birth abroad are still awaiting news from the Home Ministry, Dr Wee said.

“I hope the ministry expedites constitutional amendments to ensure that Malaysian mothers giving birth overseas have their children automatically granted citizenship, addressing this issue once and for all,” he said.

“This has been my consistent stance since entering politics, advocating for constitutional amendments to safeguard the basic rights of Malaysian women, which I also championed during my time in the cabinet,” said Dr Wee, who also expressed gratitude to Saifuddin for actively handling citizenship applications and approving over 11,500 applications within a short year.

He added that Saifuddin has agreed to amend laws to ensure gender equality for Malaysian women, permanently resolving the challenges faced by them whenever they give birth abroad and then attempt to apply for citizenship for their children.

Mia was born in Germany when her mother, Esther was working as an engineer with Siemens, and her father, Herrizon Teo, was working as an IT expert with SAP in Germany.

The couple came back to Malaysia in 2019 before their second daughter was born.