Their 14-year-old son now works at a workshop, while their nine-year-old daughter stays home to help take care of her sick father, Muhamad Isnin, 42.
Both could not attend school as the couple did not have a marriage certificate, a requirement for parents when they register their children for school.
Due to the absence of the marriage certificate, their children also could not be issued a birth certificate or MyKid.
It all began in 2003, when Isnin and Ridzawati Jamaludin tied the knot using the services of a kadhi in Kedah.
It was only much later that they found that their marriage was illegal and they were victims of a marriage syndicate.
They discovered the bitter truth when they approached the Kedah Islamic Religious Department (MAIK) to get a replacement copy of their lost marriage certificate.
They were shocked when told their marriage had not been registered.
“We suspect we were victims of a scam. As a result, our union was not recognised by the law,” Ridzawati, 38, said when met at the family’s home here.
“We couldn’t trace those who got us married to get a new certificate to replace the missing one.”
Ridzawati’s two younger children, aged five and two, are not of schooling age. But she knows that they too will not be able to attend school like their older siblings.
“They always ask me when they can go to school,” she said. “I have no more excuses to give them.”
The couple’s plight is similar to that of thousands of stateless children in Malaysia who cannot attend school following the Immigration Department’s policy that they must produce their passports.
The Education Department is using the letter from the immigration to disallow the children from registering for school.
They include a seven-year-old girl in Seremban who was turned away from school, sparking outrage among child welfare advocates and rights group.
Ridzawati does not wish to see her younger children suffer the same fate.
She has no stable income as her husband is paralysed and slipped into a coma last year.
Before, when her husband was healthy, he earned money trading at a night market.
She has put aside a small sum as savings and gets financial help from family members as well as from the local zakat office.
Now, she is eager to see that her children are not left behind in education. Whenever she has the chance, she tries to teach them, buying them books to read.
“I am really sad because it is the dream of parents like me to see their children go to school and study. At least then, we can hope for a better life in future.”
Proham: Denying school for stateless children violates UN treaty signed by Malaysia
Immigration: We’ve never stopped non-citizens from entering school
Immigration Dept under fire after adopted girl barred from school
School defied minister’s instructions, says child welfare society