“Without an IC (in Malaysia), a person is ‘pretty much no one in this world’. That was how I felt throughout the past six years,” he said. “It was rough for me back then without an IC.”

“The tough times for me and my father have finally paid off.”

Navin was speaking to the media on the sidelines of turning up at the National Registration Department to apply for his IC. The Home Ministry, in a letter dated March 18, approved his application for citizenship, after nine months of a court order.

He and his father Moorthy Ramiah Pillai went through many years in court for the teenager to be recognised by law for an identity.

When asked what was next, Navin only said he has a “long list of things to fulfill”. “I cannot really tell what I will do first because there are a lot of things in my mind,” he said.

His lawyer Annou Xavier, who was present, said that with an IC, Navin can now register his name for official records. “He can apply for loans, take his driving licence, register a marriage,” he pointed out.

He added that without an IC, none of these things was possible. “This young man just wanted a simple piece of paper called ‘warganegara’ (citizenship). Not money, not big contracts.”

“Just a simple word, ‘Malaysian’,” said Annou.

In 2014, the High Court recognised Navin as a citizen and ordered the Home Ministry to give him his IC. Justice Hue Siew Kheng ruled that the Ministry had acted “unfairly” in rejecting two applications by Navin to obtain a MyKad.

The Court of Appeal, after hearing the appeal by the Ministry last year, ordered it to reconsider Navin’s application, attaching new evidence in the form of a DNA report, to prove that he was the son of a local businessman.