Sabeena Syed Jafer Hussain Zaidi, 61, had spent the past 14 years fighting on her own to obtain citizenship for her two sons and two daughters.

Her efforts were honoured today at a memorial service and prayer ceremony organised by advocacy group Family Frontiers.

Niba Zaidi, the youngest of Sabeena’s four children said her mother’s last words as she was being rolled into surgery were “I have so many things left to do”.

“And as she said that, I knew she wanted to continue fighting for us and other mothers in the same boat,” she said while holding back tears.

“She never wavered and always had hope even though our applications for citizenship were rejected multiple times,” she said.

Niba said that her mother had only just recently found a community with Family Frontiers to share her struggles and champion the cause of equal citizenship rights.

“She had to do this alone for so long, and to be able to share all of this with other mothers made her so happy,” she said.

After Sabeena’s death, other mothers from the Family Frontiers network told Niba that they had begun drawing up wills as they were afraid of what would happen if they were to pass away unexpectedly.

“It is so disheartening to hear, but that is the reality of the situation,” said Niba morosely.

Last September, the Kuala Lumpur High Court ruled that citizenship by operation of law must be granted to children born abroad to Malaysian women as well.

However, the government filed an appeal against the ruling and the appellate court heard the case on March 23. The decision will be announced on June 22.

Other mothers who were at today’s event also lamented about the long wait they face to obtain citizenship for their children born overseas.

Mother of three, Priscilla Collar, said she has been waiting eight years for her two daughters who were born in France to get citizenship. “I am worried about my eldest because in just a few years, she will no longer be a minor and will be forced to leave (Malaysia),” she said apprehensively.

She added that the court’s decision in June was pivotal not just for her children but for all Malaysian mothers.

Muda central executive committee member Dian Lee called on the government to prioritise the issue of unequal citizenship and have more empathy towards the plight of affected mothers.

“This needs to be addressed quickly, and I hope that the court’s decision this month will favour these mothers and give them equal rights as men,” she said.