This is how we should celebrate.

Encik, kenapa tak letak Anak Lelaki (Anak Perempuan - 2017)? - registering child birth/name

Update 2017:
Can you believe it? I have to go through the same argument with the officer once again, after 7 years. This time they want me to do Sworn Statement to drop A/P!

I stood firm. No way. Don't simply introduce procedure which is not in the registration guidelines.


Main article (2012):
Birth of a child, one of the happiest moment in a family. The event will be followed by 30th day prayers and naming ceremony. The proud parents will announce the name of their bundle of joy to their relatives and friends, amid a joyous celebration and congratulatory messages from everyone.

Then comes the compulsory obligation for registering the name and the birth of the child with National Registration Department (NRD / JPN) in accordance to Act 299 BIRTHS AND DEATHS REGISTRATION ACT 1957 (Akta Pendaftaran Kelahiran dan Kematian 1957). This act is to be read together with Kaedah-Kaedah Pendaftaran Kelahiran dan Kematian 1958 used by JPN, which prescribes the process of registering a child's birth and name in Malaysia.

Enough of intro, let's get to the point. In 2010, I welcomed the birth of my son. As required by the law, I went to a JPN office to register his name, Krish Laxman Kumar. Like any other responsible, IT-savvy, info-hungry, never-done-it-before and I-don't-want-to-mess-up-my-child's-name-forever parent, I went thru all those documents above before starting my old bike, riding to the JPN office.

I was given the JPN.LM01 form, which I filled and submitted at the counter. While waiting, like everyone else around there, I wanted to go out and smoke, then I realized I'm not a smoker, so I bought a pack of soya drink and waited for the number to flash on the bright red LED panel, with the voice of a sleepy lady - satu satu empat tiga, kaunter lapanzzzzzz. When my number was flashed, I rushed to the counter to complete and collect the coveted Warganegara birth certificate for my son, alas there's an issue says the counter staff. This is how it went on for the next half hour or so:

she : Encik, kenapa tak letak Anak Lelaki?

me : Cik, sila tengok bahagian A4, saya dah tanda Jantina sebagai Lelaki

she : bukan itu encik, bahagian A1, nama kena ada anak lelaki untuk anak encik

me : saya tak mahu letak anak lelaki sebagai sebahagian nama dia

she : encik kena letak juga

me : kenapa?

she : sebab dalam nama encik ada anak lelaki, jadi mesti masukkan juga

me : mengikut peraturan dalam kaedah pendaftaran ke?

she : ye encik betul!

me : ini salinan kaedah pedaftaran JPN, ini salinan akta pendaftaran kelahiran, cuba cik tunjuk dimana peraturan ini ada

she : errrr saya tak pasti, tapi kebiasannya nama kaum india mesti ada anak lelaki atau perempuan

me : saya tak ikut kebiasaan orang lain, nama anak saya ikut kehendak saya

she : tak boleh cik, mesti masukkan juga

me : saya akan ikut cik jika boleh tunjuk peraturan ini dalam borang, akta atau kaedah pendaftaran

she : macam ini encik kena bincang dengan pegawai saya

me : sila panggil pegawai 

after few minutes of intense discussion with her pegawai, both came out to see me

he : encik, nama anak encik mesti disertakan dengan anak lelaki

me : atas sebab?

he : seperti nama orang Islam ada Bin atau Binti, kebiasaannya nama orang Hindu perlu ada anak lelaki/perempuan

me : saya faham encik, tapi itu kebiasaan, bukan peraturan dan jika ia peraturan, mesti ada termaktub dalam mana-mana dokumen yang saya baca, tiada pun? lagipun kalau ikut logik encik, nama orang Cina kenapa tiada anak itu anak ini?

he : pasti encik tak mahu letak anak lelaki?

me : saya sangat pasti saya tak mahu nama sebenar anak saya menjadi Krish Laxman Kumar Anak Lelaki Sashi Kumar. Jadi teruskan proses pendaftaran.

he : encik kena sign atas borang ini, mengatakan encik tak mahu anak lelaki sebagai nama anak

me : saya tak perlu sign mana-mana mengikut proses pendaftaran JPN, jika mahu juga encik mesti bagi saya surat untuk saya patuh arahan encik, barulah rasmi.

he : takapalah, encik tunggu. nanti bila siap pendaftaran staff ini akan panggil encik

me : terima kasih

So my dear ladies and gentleman, tukang kayu dan tukang simen, you do have a choice not to include anak lelaki, anak perempuan, anak kepada, anak ikan or anak kucing etc. as part of your child's name. Furthermore, if we have included all this unconventional prefixes as their name, it will appear as A/L, A/P, A/K on all the official documents throughout their life!! In addition to that, it becomes another issue when you apply for an international passport, where the naming scheme has to follow the International Civil Aviation Organization's MRTD Standard Document 9303, where symbols such as / is not allowed. If you still include those prefix, our kid's names will look like this:

1. P<MYSSUGUMARAN<AL<SIVANATHAN< (for SUGUMARAN A/L SIVANATAN)
2. P<MYSREVATHY<SOMATHY<AP<SIVAKUMAR (for REVATHY SOMATHY A/P SIVAKUMAR)

AL and AP doesn't have any meaning in our names, so there's no need for our kids to carry those extra alphabets in their names. Hope this article is useful for all parents expecting for new addition to their families. God bless.