PUTRAJAYA, Jan 9 — The National Registration Department (NRD) is in the process of storing 150 million physical records kept since 1869 in digital form for security and preservation, said Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.

He said even though most of the records registering births and deaths contained basic information such as the name of the father and mother, name of the child, address and employment, it is a treasure of information on Malaysians which should be preserved.

"It is part of the future plans so that these treasures can be stored safely and in accordance with current technology by digitising the department's records," he said at a press conference after making a working visit to NRD here today.

Besides appreciating the information, he said the electronic record keeping can also be a reference and facilitate searching in the future if needed.

According to him, so far about 30,000 records have been stored digitally and the storage process will continue to be implemented by the department until they are completed.

During the visit, he was briefed on the overall operation of NRD and also presented citizenship approval letters to the 28 successful applicants.

Also present were Deputy Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Shamsul Anuar Nasarah and Home Ministry secretary-general Datuk Seri Wan Ahmad Dahlan Abdul Aziz. — Bernama