He only realised much later on in his life that his parents did not officially register their marriage, leaving his own citizenship status in limbo.

Wong’s parents, a Chinese Sarawakian father and Indonesian mother, died when he was just nine.

To become a Malaysian citizen by law, persons born in the country must have at least one parent who is either a Malaysian citizen or permanent resident.

Wong was later adopted by his mother’s sister, a citizen herself, who tried her best to get him a Malaysian citizenship but always failed.

He was unable to sit for his PT3 examination in Form 3 because he did not have a MyKad, the Malaysian identity card.

The first time Wong applied for Malaysian citizenship was at the Kota Kinabalu National Registration Department (NRD) office when he was 19. He and his aunt had just understood the implications of the missing marriage paper and were rushing to get it sorted.

Wong admitted he should have started applying for a Malaysian citizenship much earlier on, but said he was not aware of the absence of his parents’ marriage certificate.

He had no idea he was technically stateless. He never questioned why he did not have a MyKad although he had a birth certificate.

“Only when I applied for my citizenship, I found out I was stateless. I didn’t realise it before,” he told FMT in a recent interview.

He said he could not prove his link to his Malaysian father either despite having his death certificate and his name on his own birth certificate.

“I could use my birth certification all this while to go to school, but then they required a MyKad for the PT3 examination. Otherwise, I could not sit for the papers. I was told to go to the education ministry,” he explained.

The ministry, in turn, directed him to the NRD office.

“I tried my luck in Sabah, but for years they kept saying my application was being processed. After that, they told me to go to the home affairs ministry, but they don’t have an office there,” he said.

The home minister has the sole prerogative to grant citizenship for special cases like his, Wong said.

Life as a stateless citizen is not easy. Without proper documentation, even owning a phone line is difficult, what more opening a bank account or renting a place to stay.

But Wong has managed to get on somehow thanks to friends and family, people he said were “dear ones with their hearts in the right place”.

It was they who helped him open a bank account so that he can use a bank card, and registered a phone line on his behalf.

There is then the stigma of being stateless in Malaysia, which has long been associated with higher crime rates and security concerns.

Wong has also been arrested by the Immigration Department, and spent time in jail.

“But I’m not afraid,” he said. “My citizenship application is still pending, and it’s not my fault I am stateless, so what’s there to be afraid of?

“I would always walk away free after the immigration puts me behind bars back in Sabah,” he explained.

“In my hometown, when I am arrested by the immigration, they put me in jail, but release me after like two hours once they see that my citizenship status is still pending. It’s different from the police, where they will always take advantage of people like me.”

He said he had encountered “rogue cops” but never bribed them.

Wong said he constantly took solace in knowing he did no wrong and is not a criminal, but is someone who is misunderstood.

Still, it doesn’t make things easier.

He still carries with him his priceless set of documents everywhere he goes, including a confirmation letter of his application for citizenship.

Police or immigration officers would now and then question him, and most times, the documents keep him safe.

Looking to the future

Four long years have passed, and there is no light at the end of the tunnel for Wong, who has since made the journey to West Malaysia to deal firsthand with the home affairs ministry and put the issue to bed finally.

With money hard-earned from petty jobs, Wong, now 23, is determined that he would change his own future for the better. He has not looked back and waits to become a citizen.

He regrets not having the life that he had wanted: to travel the world with friends and play music.

Now, he can’t even leave the country, but he hopes things will change.

“Think about us on the streets. We can’t even make police reports, we don’t get health coverage and instead pay expensive hospital bills. It’s not about security issues, it’s just about us getting our documents,” Wong said.

He hopes his resolve will spark a new trend among stateless people like him.

“A lot of them live in fear, scared of making changes. They’re stuck in Sabah and can’t do anything. I took the risk and I came to live in the peninsula,” he said, adding they would wait for months and sometimes years to hear their application status.

Most give up on the issue in the end and continue to live their lives in the hope they do not get caught.

Wong keeps tabs on political developments relating to immigration and citizenship in the country.

He was happy when the education ministry announced that the process for stateless pupils to enrol in government schools would be simplified.

But it was already too late for him to benefit from the decision.

He had dropped out of high school, saying the process then had been painful.

Wong is still waiting for news about his citizenship application. He has repeatedly made his way to Putrajaya for updates.

He is keeping his fingers crossed, hoping that things will change for him in this new Malaysia.

FMT has reached out to an aide of Home Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and his deputy Azis Jamman for comments.