M`SIA ON THE DOUBLE IN PROCESSING CITIZENSHIP, OTHER APPLICATIONS

PUTRAJAYA, Sept 16 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian government has completed
processing 70 per cent of citizenship, entry permits and late birth certificate
registration application as of Wednesday.

Home Minister Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said his ministry was
confident of reaching its KPI (key performance indicator) target to process the
remaining 30 per cent by the end of the year.

"Outstanding are 32,927 citizenship applications, 16,812 applications for
entry permits and 90,360 for late registration of births.

"The cut off date of applications to be cleared is Jan 1 2008. At the same
time, there are still new applications coming in . Nevertheless, we wil do our
best to process the applications as soon as possible.

"However, sucessful or not will depend on each individual case and should
they be unsuccesful, they can still make new applications," he said.

Hishammuddin also reminded the newly minted Malaysian citizens not to take
their citizenship for granted as some who were born citizens were doing and to
take to their heart the principles of the Rukun Negara (national philosophy).

"There are people who want to apply to become citizens of Malaysia.
Therefore, Malaysia must have something of value, there must be something
special about Malaysia.

"There must be something worth fighting for and preserving if they are
willing to wait 20 to 30 years to become citizens," he said.

-- BERNAMA