 |
"I was registered a Muslim based on an error at birth," Zulhaidi (C) said. (Courtsey: New Strait Times) |
CAIRO — A Malaysian Muslim man has filed a lawsuit to change his religion to Buddhism on the fact that he was born to a Buddhist family but swapped at birth by a Muslim one.
"I was registered a Muslim based on an error at birth," Zulhaidi Omar told The Star newspaper Saturday, June 2.
The 29-year-old man demands in his legal action the National Registration Department (NRD) to drop the word "Islam" from his identity card.
Zulhaidi was raised in an ethnic Malay family.
His parents in the birth certificate are Omar Saim and Hasnah Salleh.
Zulhaidi was teased about his Chinese-like features since he was a child.
When he was 13, he left the family that brought him up because he never felt accepted by the family.
He worked at a car wash to put himself through school, eventually ending up with a diploma in business administration.
Zulhaidi discovered his true origins by chance when a Chinese woman at a supermarket where he worked noticed his Chinese-like features were similar to those of her father.
Three visits by the women and her parents convinced him to take a DNA test.
Chinese Origin
The DNA test confirmed that Zulhaidi was born to a Chinese couple.
"On the day that I was born, a woman named Lim Sik Hai also gave birth to a baby boy at the same hospital," said Zulhaidi.
"Her husband Teyo Ma Liong is the father of the child. I should have been named Eddie Teyo, son of Teyo Ma Liong and Lim Sik Hai, and a Buddhist," he said.
Zulhadi said his lawyer has filed the suit after Malaysian authorities failed to respond to a written request for changing his name and religion.
His move follows refusal of Malaysia's top secular court to allow a woman who converted from Islam to be legally recognized as a Christian.
The court on Wednesday, May 30, rejected a request by Lina Joy to have the word "Islam" removed from her ID card after her conversion, saying a Shari`ah court would first have to recognize her conversion.
Ethnic Malays are defined as Muslims from birth.
A Malay is defined in the Constitution as "a person who professes the religion of Islam," and only the Shari`ah Court has jurisdiction over apostasy-related cases.
Muslim Malays make up nearly 60 percent of Malaysia’s 26 million population.
Ethnic Chinese and Indians — most of them Buddhists, Hindus and Christians - make up about 35 percent. The rest are indigenous people and Eurasians.
|
