An error on his identity card causing heartache for Johann Lim Noordin

An error which occurred nineteen years ago on the identity card of Johann Lim Nordin has caused a lot of inconvenience and heartache for him.

On his official identity card, his full name is stated as Johann Lim Noordin bin Billy Noordin while his birth certificate states his name as Johann Lim Noordin .

By religion, Johann is a Buddhist and has never been a Muslim.

Pronounced as Yo-han, this 32-year old Chindian from Penang has been trying to get this error resolved with the National Registration Department (NRD) since he was 13-years-old.

According to Johann’s email to Astro AWANI, he has submitted all the necessary supporting documents to the NRD which included a copy of his birth certificate and identity card, his father’s identity card and an amendment form dated October 7, 2011.

He even included his younger brother’s identity card and an official letter from the Penang State Religious office stating that the office has no records of such a name in their list, just so to strongly prove that he is not a Muslim.

All the supporting documents pointed out an error which took place when Johann registered for his official identity card when he was twelve years old.

In his letter to the NRD, he has been trying to get this issue sorted out since he was 13 and after his application was passed on from one department to another, Johann decided to give it a rest.

It was only two years ago that Johann realised the impact this error posed to his personal life – Johann could not get married to the woman of his dreams with an error on the religion status of his identity card.

Realising this complexity, Johann went all out to get his identity card straightened out only to encounter overwhelming frustration with the answers given by the NRD. It has been close to three years and his case is still pending.

According to Johann, the last reply from the NRD had caused even more confusion. In a reply dated May 19, 2014, the department had suggested for Johann to obtain an official letter from the Syariah Court stating that he is not a Muslim.

Johann has sought legal advice and is pleading the NRD to look into his case urgently.

Astro AWANI contacted the NRD earlier today for comments and according to an officer there, Johann’s case was still under investigation and that the NRD is not obliged to release any information on the matter until further clarification has been made by the rightful authority of the NRD.