No need to add a/p, a/l to Hindu, Sikh names in Malaysia

| Malaysia | 23 March 2017 | Asia Samachar |

The Malaysian Home Ministry has confirmed that Indians are not required to add ‘son of’ (a/l) or ‘daughter of’ (a/p) when registering a child’s official name, a practice that has been going on for decades. Most Sikh names also carry the a/p or a/l abbreviations in their officially registered name.

In a written reply to Parliament, the ministry said it was the norm for Indian parents to add these abbreviations on the birth certificates of their children, reports Free Malaysia Today (No need to add a/l or a/p to Hindu names, 22 March 2017).

“According to the present procedure, the National Registration Department registers a child’s information based on the application form and an initial draft of the birth certificate that has been approved and signed by the applicant, before the actual certificate is issued.

“If the applicant does not want to use a/l and a/p, the department will ask the biological parents or the guardian to agree or not to agree to using the words on the child’s birth certificate,” the report quotes the statement.

The ministry was responding to Sivarasa Rasiah (PKR-Subang), who had asked the home ministry to state if the department had made it compulsory for Indian parents to include a/l and a/p to the Hindu names on their children’s birth certificates, the report added.

Many Sikh parents in Malaysia have for many dropped the practice of adding the ‘a/p’ or ‘a/l’ to their children names, despite at times officials at the registration department insisting that they must do so.

“We just need to tell them that it is not part of regulation and that we chose not to do it,” one parent told Asia Samachar.

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