Human Resource Minister M. Kulasegaran said the decision to grant citizenship status to holders of red identity card aged 60 years and above, is for all races. — Picture by Firdaus Latif

KAMPAR, Aug 18 — The decision to grant citizenship status and issue blue identity card to permanent residents who are holders of red identity card aged 60 years and above, is for all races, said Human Resource Minister M. Kulasegaran.

He said the citizenship status would be granted not just for the Indian community.

Kulasegaran added that many were with the notion that the citizenship was for the Indian community because those who had approached the Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad over the issue were the Indian MPs.

“Yesterday the Cabinet had specifically stated that it is for all races. Perhaps the majority of the cases involve one race but many among the Malays, Chinese, Kadazans and Ibans are red identity card holders too.”

The Ipoh Barat MP said this to reporters after launching the Ministry of Human Resources community service counter at the Public Market here today.

Last Tuesday, Dr Mahathir announced that permanent residents who are holders of red identity card aged 60 and above would be given citizenship status and issued with the blue identity card which would include 3,407 Indians.

For those below 60 years of age, the issuance of the citizenship status would be subject to several conditions, including having been born in Malaysia and being a child from a parent who is a Malaysian.

Resolving the citizenship problem of the Indian community is one of the promises in the PH election manifesto in the last general election.

On the proposal to ban foreign cooks Kulasegaran said discussions were still ongoing with several parties to ensure a win-win situation. — Bernama