Careless attitude leads to more cases of lost identity cards

The careless attitude of Malaysians was one of the reasons for the drastic increase in the cases of lost identity cards, said Deputy Home Minister Datuk Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar.

He said as the National Registration Department (NRD) had made the issuance of the identity card or Mykad relatively easier through a quick and simple process, the holders were becoming more and more careless.

"Last year, 681,356 identity cards were reported lost, and this year, up till February, 71,639 identity cards have been reported lost," he said at the NRD 2013 Excellent Service Award presentation ceremony, Tuesday.

Wan Junaidi said the number of lost identity cards had continued to increase with 397,079 cards were reported lost in 2010, 413,068 in 2011, and 429,137 in 2012.

"The carelessness and indifferent attitude not only threatens individual and national security if the document was misused, but the government would also incur high costs to replace the identity card," he said.