How to get a drivers licence in Malaysia

Like Australia, you need to sit for the Written and Practical tests. Let’s assume you have passed both of them. Got them passes recorded in JPJ’s system. So how do you get a Malaysian drivers licence?

• Your ID
• A passport picture of yourself
• Form JPJ L1

No really. That is all you need.



I really don’t understand why many Anglo-Saxon democracies (like the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and the ultimate coup de grace, USA) have something against a national ID card system. Every time it is even remotely suggested the usual wails of privacy and big brother rear themselves. Then the conspiracy bible wielding fanatics come out of the woodwork and it all goes south from there. I’ve never found any of the arguments against a ID card system convincing, albeit I do concede that not all of the arguments are without merit.

Well guess what people: the government already tracks you. And I’m not talking about PRISM or ECHLON either.

In Australia there is a TFN and your Medicare card. Even if you are a bum and don’t work you are still entitled to Medicare and are registered with Centrelink for welfare, which surprise surprise gives you a Centrelink ID card. And the Australian drivers licence is already a de facto ID card. Want to open a bank account? Complete the paperwork for a job? Apply for a loan? Enrol in university? Get yourself on the electoral roll? Take out a hire-purchase? Buy a place to live in? (Heck, property records are public in Australia for crying out loud) Check-in for a domestic flight? We’ll need to see your driver’s licence thanks.

Why else would a drivers licence (ie. A way of verifying that I can (kinda) drive without killing myself and everyone on the road) require where I was born and my visa information?

Don’t/Cant drive? Here’s an Australian passport as proof of ID. Here’s a Proof of Age card. All interlinked with my Medicare number/card and TFN. Now can I have my bank account/start my new job/have my loan/get my student ID/receive the title for my new place/get on the plane please?

So why make it difficult for people, where you need x number of documents from Category A (which seems to vary depending on what you’re applying for), y number of documents from Category B (which essentially means your Medicare card), and a non-standard listing of documents to prove where I live, when I can have one card that shows my full name, my date of birth, my address, a picture of me, my gender, and is issued by the government?

(That is actually an important requirement, as for many occasions one needs official documents issued by the government. Just ask those who paid for a KeyPass card)

The question can be partially explained that it is a revenue raising stream, especially when Proof of Age cards in QLD now expire every 5 years, passports expire within 10 years, so you have to constantly keep re-doing them. But I really have trouble understanding why civil libertarians revolt so much against a national ID card system when they have no problem with having a TFN, a Medicare card and a smartphone.

Don't get me wrong: it will not combat terrorism. It will not reduce fraud. But it will make life so much easier in an ever complicated world.

Okay, you can live without a drivers licence and a smartphone. But I challenge anyone to live in Australia as a resident without a TFN and a Medicare card. Unless you have no problem with the government taking 47% of every dollar you earn and never need healthcare.

The government can track you already. It knows where you live (one always needs to have a postal address for any kind of correspondence), how you move (property records are public in Australia), where you work, how much you earn (TFN), your medical history (especially with MyHealth being rolled out). And all this is before we get into conspiracy theory land of ECHLON and PRISM.

So what’s wrong with a piece of plastic that allows us to avoid some of the ever increasing amount of paperwork?

Just when I thought I had seen it all......comes SNH48

Between self-taught 日本語, 12 years in the Malaysian education system, and 6 years in Chung Hua school, now I've seen it all.

From ポップコーンが弾けるように -> Seperti popcorn yang meletup letup -> 像爆米花一样热烈般的爆炸

The Bahasa (Indonesia) version still sounds weird, and the Mandarin version (seriously, "咚咚心跳证明靠近的距离" ?!) is not much better to be honest.

I would actually be interested in how they adapt "Baby! Baby! Baby!" into Mandarin. The Bahasa Indonesia version is surprisingly pretty good.

One of the many reasons why things don't work in Malaysia

Bernama, 21 Oct 2009:


3 observations:

1) Bernama (and the NST; I'm starting to see a pattern here) can't even get the poor guy's name right: "Chong" vs "Choong"


Source (and it is a good read too!)

2) The minister himself doesn't even know the difference between a MyKad and a MyPR. Protip: the National Registration Department gives a good rundown of the differences between the two of them.

3) There is something very wrong when a poor 99 year old man on his death bed can't even be called a Malaysian (despite what his relatives may have thought), while in Sabah people can get a blue MyKad in as little as 2 years.

Grandmother ages backwards in Sarawak!

The Borneo Post, 17 Sept 2009:


In a article in 2009, The Borneo Post highlights the plight of Sauyah Abdullah, who is noted to be 90 years of age.

Fastfoward to 2013:

The Borneo Post, 2 August 2013:


Footnote:

Because Malaysian's can't identify satire (no really, they really can't) even if it came up to them and hit them with a large trout, I have to say this: I'm all for helping the poor, and it was good that her plight was noticed and assistance provided.

I just can't help but be bemused that within 4 years she managed to age backwards by 5 years.

Getting a drivers licence in Australia

So there a few things that one needs to do holding a drivers licence from a non-prescribed country, such as sitting for the written theory test and the practical driving test. But let's assume that you've managed to overcome these hurdles and get the tick of approval. So how do you get a drivers licence in Australia.

You need to fulfill the ID requirements.

Which leads to a horrifying conclusion.

You will need:

a) An Australian Birth certificate
    Naturalisation Certificate
    Australian Passport

But what if you're not born in Australia, or an Australian citizen, like me?

-Foreign passport
-QLD or Federal police officer ID
-Australian photo driver licence (really? You need a drivers licence to get a drivers licence?)
-QLD accreditatom for bus/taxi/limo driver
-QLD 18+ card
-Immigration visa

I'm not going to start on the madness of getting a Australian passport, or the recursive fact that you need a drivers licence to get drivers licence.

But I can tick the box on having Foreign passport, and a immigration visa (label). The latter for now. DIAC no longer issue visa labels for Permanent Residents, and if you want one its now $70. (Essentially its become a revenue raising option) It remains if TMR will accept a printout of a e-VEVO acting as a visa label.



Source.

So I have a passport. Now I need something from Category B:

- Australian Defence Force ID
- Australian firearm licence
- Australian security guard licence
- Centrelink pensioner concession card
- Education ID card
- Financial education debit/credit card
- Medicare card

Now I can't join the Australian defence force, hate guns, can't be a bouncer, don't qualify for pensioner status, and am not studying. For this discussion let's assume that I'm a 457 visa holder who is not entitled to a Medicare card. My only options are my bank debit/credit card.

Now how do I get a debit/credit card? Open a bank account. How does one open a bank account? With your passport. But what if you don't have a bank account?  You're stuck.

The whole ID process in Australia (not just TMR) assumes that people have a bank account. And while Australia does have a high rate of bank account ownership, there will be those who don't/can't get a bank account. And they'll be stuck.

So okay, I have my passport and my bank card. Now I need a 3rd form of ID from the A or B lists above. What happens if I don't have a visa label?

The closest thing is the 18+ card. But to get a 18+ card you need to satisfy all these identity requirements madness.

The only option I can see, if you don't have a Medicare card, is to get another financial institutions debit/credit card. How many people have financial relationships with 2 banks?

Now lets say you have a Foreign passport, a bank card, and a visa label (or paid $70 to immigration to get one)/another bank card (or opened another bank account just for this)/Medicare card (which you need a Australian passport/birth certificate/naturalisation certificate/foreign passport + appropriate visa to get one). What next?

You need to prove that you're domiciled in the state in which you are applying for the drivers licence for. Now how does one do that?

- Contract of property purchase, lease/rental document, mortgage/land ownership sertificate
- Electricity, gas or telephone account
- Rates notice/electoral document
- QLD vehicle registration certificate (really? I'm trying to get a licence to be able to get a car here people)
- Tax assessment notice
- Bank statement issued within the last 6 months

Now let's say I'm a new migrant from a prescribed country that allows me to simply convert my drivers licence without the need for written and practical tests. I'm sub-renting, with everything bundled into the rent I pay. I have no lease document, no electricity or gas account, don't pay rates, use a prepaid plan, and haven't filed a tax return yet.

The only option available to you is a bank statement. But what if you don't have one?

You know what? After all this I'm convinced of one thing: it is impossible to survive in Australia without a bank account. This means a lot of Malaysian's will die in Australia, because a lot of them do not have bank accounts. And how much should be trust banks? What's stopping them from become the next Cyprus, Greece, Spain or UK?

Anyway, in my case I had my Malaysian passport, my bank card, my visa label and my postpaid phone account. To be able to be used as part of proving my identity.

Now how do I get a bank account/mobile phone account/bank card? I use my Malaysian passport.

So how do I get a Malaysian passport?

• RM300 for a 5 year passport
• My MyKad and a photocopy of it
• 2 passport sized photos (now with a white background)

No really, that is all the documentation (if you could even call it that) to get a Malaysian passport.

Now getting a picture is a relatively straightforward process, and I'll leave it to the individual to determine how to get RM300. But how does one get a MyKad?

Well, being a Malaysian national helps. But let's hear it from the National Registration Department themselves:

• My birth certificate
• The Mykad's of my parents

So now that we have established how to get a MyKad, how do I get a birth certificate for myself?

Well, there are 3 sets of rules: for Malaya, Sabah and Sarawak. As a Sarawakian, I will detail the latter. (That said, the rules between the 3 sets are not that different from each other)



Well, for starters, being physically born in Sarawak helps. And be produced to the National Registration Department within 14 days of my birth. Documentation wise:

• Borang I
• Borang X
• Birth record from the hospital
• My prenatal records
• The Mykad/passports of the parents
• The marriage certificate of the parents

So there you have it: my entire existence is predicated on a piece of paper which has no photo and which somehow I hold myself out to be! And the only reason why I hold this piece of paper is because my parents went to the National Registration Department within 14 days of my birth and said this bundle of flesh and bone is theirs.

Which explains why statelessness is a real issue in Malaysia. How many people think "Oh look! My child! Now let's all go to the National Registration Department and fill in some forms!" after their child is born? Especially when the nearest National Registration Department office is a 3 day boat ride away?

The whole world is designed around a person having a piece of paper. And if you don't have it, you don't exist. Just ask Ladu Yanga or Choong Yik Sheng.

Malaysian nationality law in a nutshell

As the law currently stands (for Non-Muslims):

1) All births in Malaysia, regardless of the nationality of either parent, are entitled to a birth certificate in Malaysia. Issuance of a birth certificate in Malaysia only proves that the child was born in Malaysia. It has nothing to do about the nationality of the child. Being born in Malaysia does not entitle you to Malaysian citizenship.


2) All births in Malaysia need to be registered within 42 days of the birth.

3) If both parties are married, whether the child is a Malaysian citizen depends on who's the Malaysian national:

a) If the father is a Malaysian and the mother is a foreign national, and the child is born in Malaysia, the child will have Malaysian nationality
b) If the father is a Malaysian and the mother is a foreign national, and the child was born outside Malaysia, AND the birth was registered with the Malaysian foreign representative office within 30 days, the child will have Malaysian nationality
c) If the mother is a Malaysian and the father is a foreign national, and the child is born in Malaysia, the child will have Malaysian nationality
d) If the mother is a Malaysian and the father is a foreign national, and the child is born outside Malaysia, you get into a gray area. There was an administrative directive a few years back to give children born to Malaysian women outside of Malaysia Malaysian citizenship, but the memo still hasn't reached a few little Napoleons. Anecdotal evidence seems to suggest that most Malaysian women give up fighting with the bureaucracy and the brain drain continues

4) If a unmarried Malaysian woman gives birth to a child in Malaysia, and the father does not consent to being put on the birth certificate, (or the father is nowhere to be found) the child will still be issued with a birth certificate. (See also point 2) The birth certificate will leave the details of the father of the child blank. The child will have Malaysian citizenship.

5) If a unmarried Malaysian woman gives birth to a child outside Malaysia, and the father (irrespective of the nationality) does not consent to being put on the birth certificate, you end up in the creek without a paddle. And that's one way of becoming stateless.

Twitter Gems, part 55

Oh, the pain! The suffering! The "What if's?". Why, KyoAni, Why?!