PUTRAJAYA, May 19 — Of the 285,568 cases of lost MyKad reported last year, 50 per cent or 142,535 of them involved youth aged between 15 and 30, said Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh.
This figure is extremely worrying because MyKad is an important document that accesses various official matters.
She said that negligence, which accounted for 136,000 cases of Mykad's loss, was one of the main factors cited. Yeoh expressed concern over the risk of identity theft and fraud and the difficulty of settling official matters, particularly those involving the government.
"So, when these youths are negligent, this will become a risk, namely having to face the prospect of being fined for a replacement MyKad, the time taken to get the replacement as well as the emotional stress,” she said during a press conference after chairing the Strategic Collaboration Coordination Meeting between the Youth and Sports Ministry (KBS) and the National Registration Department (JPA) today.
Also present was JPA director-general Badrul Hisham Alias.
Yeoh added that Selangor had the highest number of MyKad loss cases involving youth, with 23,000 cases, followed by Kuala Lumpur (20,000 cases), and Johor (17,000 cases).
"We do not know why these three states (recorded the highest number of cases)… it could be due to them having big urban areas.
"There are lots of commercial activities in urban areas, so the MyKad is frequently handed over, such as at security posts at housing areas and commercial buildings… so it is very likely that this is closely related,” she said.
The minister said the meeting also studied in detail various intervention measures to be implemented through strategic collaboration between KBS and JPA, including a digital advocacy campaign involving the dissemination of graphic materials like posters and video clips on social media and official portals.
She added that the intervention measures involved delivering information regarding JPA services to youths, particularly through programmes organised by the KBS as well as departments and agencies under it.
"We will also provide counters or booths related to JPA services when organising major ministry programmes, such as the National Youth Day, National Sports Day, and so on,” Yeoh said.
KBS and JPA also agreed to collaborate to implement the 'Menyemai Kasih Rakyat’ (Mekar) programme to assist individuals who require JPA services, besides expanding the programme to include former national athletes.
— Bernama
