2019 Statelessness & Citizenship Review 1(1) citizen. 97 This is especially true of children born to unwed parents where the mother does not have Malaysian citizenship and the father does have Malaysian citizenship. 98 Reported case law also shows stateless cases dealing with children born before a marriage takes place or is registered. 99 I spoke with several people in Malaysia exhibiting such examples. 2S spoke about how she could not acquire citizenship despite the fact her father was a Malaysian citizen because her mother was stateless and her parents’ marriage could not be registered due to the fact the mother is stateless. 100 4S is the father of five children from two relationships. One of his children is stateless. 4S is a Malaysian citizen and his second wife is an Indonesian citizen. 4S told me that he was pursuing a divorce with his first wife at the time he met and engaged a relationship with his second wife. Before his divorce was finalised, and therefore, before he could marry his second wife, one of his daughters was born in Malaysia. Because he was not married to his second wife, and because his wife is not a Malaysian citizen, his daughter could not benefit from acquiring Malaysian citizenship from her Malaysian father. 4S told me the registration of his marriage in Malaysia took approximately one year to complete and it required traveling to Indonesia twice to acquire the appropriate documentation. After registering his marriage, he tried to apply for citizenship for his daughter but the registration office advised him, at different times, to adopt his daughter, to seek legal advice, and to wait until his daughter is 12 years old when she is eligible for an identity card. 4S told me his daughter was born in 2005 and, in 2015, he applied for citizenship on her behalf. This application was rejected. In 2016, he applied for citizenship for his daughter again. She is currently still waiting for a decision and has not been able to attend school because the school requires a passport for his daughter to attend. 4S explained that his daughter has never been to Indonesia and has lived her entire life in Malaysia. 101 9S is a woman who is a Thai citizen and has three children born in Malaysia, one of which is stateless. 9S was married to a Chinese person who had Malaysian citizenship. He passed away one year ago. 9S stated her oldest child, who is 17 years old, is stateless because she was born after her marriage was registered. 9S said she attempted several times to register her marriage before her oldest child was born but that the registration office did not believe her marriage certificate from Thailand was authentic. 9S had to make several attempts with her certified and translated marriage certificate to get it registered. Her two younger children have citizenship because they were born after the marriage was registered. 9S indicated that she tried to apply for citizenship for her daughter twice previously and that both applications were rejected. She submitted another application for citizenship in January 2018 and is waiting for a reply. 102 11S (Malaysian citizen of Chinese ethnicity) is a father of a child who is stateless because his marriage to an Indonesian woman was not registered before 97 98 99 Appendix Table 3, Interview with 6NGO. Appendix Table 3, Interview with 1L. Madhuvita Janjara Augustin (Suing through Next Friend Margeret Louisa Tan) v Augustin A/L Lourdsamy & Ors [2018] 1 MJL 307 (Court of Appeal); Lim Jen Hsian & Anor v Ketua Penegarah Jabatan Pendaltaran Negara & Ors [2017] 8 MLJ 122 (Asmabi Mohmad J) (High Court of Malaya). 100 Appendix Table 3, Interview with 2S. 101 Appendix Table 2, Interview with 4S. 102 Appendix Table 2, Interview with 4S. 116