Gaining a citizenship in a country can be pretty difficult sometimes. In fact, its been an ongoing issue for quite a while now in Malaysia.
Yesterday, footballer Lee Tuck who is the midfielder for Malaysia Super League club Sri Pahang has officially got his Malaysian citizenship.
The 34-year-old had took to this Instagram to announce the news to his fans.
"I can finally and officially say I am a Malaysian citizen. I'm truly grateful to obtain Malaysian citizenship.”
He shared it adding that it has been tough for him lately but as the opportunity came, he couldn’t pass on. He also added that he needed to make sacrifices along the way.
Sri Pahang says that they were in the process of trying to get Tuck naturalised so he can qualify as a local football player as the club had already reached the quota for their foreign players this season.
For those who didn’t know, Tuck had been playing in the Malaysian Super League since 2017 and has played for Negeri Sembilan in 2017, Terengganu FC in 2018 and had only moved to Sri Pahang last season.
One of many players being naturalised
In fact, Tuck isn’t the first footballer to be naturalised in the state as there had been dozens of others who have been granted citizenship. In fact, those players also consisted of other nationalities.
Mixed responses from the public
Although many had congratulated Tuck on his naturalisation, many netizens took to social media and called out the government for prioritising the foreign players instead of the stateless children.
The issue of mothers fighting for their rights of their kids to gain citizenship has been an issue for the longest time and some say the government are just turning a blind eye over the issue.
Kasthuri Patto who is the member of parliament (MP) of Batu Kawan had raised the question to the government back in March 2022 on why foreign footballers can be naturalised in less than 5 years when compared to those born in Malaysia continue on to face the denied citizenship.
Social media was filled with remarks of calling out the foreign player as they pointed out that people are fighting for their rights and been waiting forever in comparison to him easily gaining the status.
Here’s some of the responses:
Dia mcm ni de. Bukan masalah si lee tuck jdi citizenship. Tpi masalah main bola je leh dpt kerakyatan. Prof2 foreigner yg kerja menyumbang something ilmiah pun tak dpt kerakyatan. Kan nampak bias tu.
— hmmm (@stuffypenggu) September 1, 2022
Malaysia is a weird country. People who deserved to get citizenship is literally fighting for their rights and then there's this guy Eho easily obtain the status 😂😂😂
— ⟭⟬ airaa ⟬⟭ (@_musangPutih) August 31, 2022
So easy, while children born to Malaysian mothers are denied outright, if the father is not Malaysian. Some been waiting forever.
— pankajkumar (@happypankaj) August 31, 2022
To those who asked if he can speak bm, apa ada hal kalau ketuanan melayu kita sndiri pun tak reti bm 😭😭
— G G 🏴 (@Guesswholikes1D) September 1, 2022
This is why I feel it's unfair towards Malaysian mothers who can't get citizenship for their kids! Kalau dia ni umur 25, main dlm premier league, skill macam Messi ok lah. Tua, tak pernambuco main league 1 pun.
— Eddie LFC 19X🏆 (@lfc_eddie) August 31, 2022
While this is still stirring up the media, I do hope that the government will look at the issue further and hopefully solve the issue.
What are your thoughts on this? Let us know in the comments.
*Sources: Visual and Reference Credits to Social Media, FMT & various cross references for context.
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