KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 23 — Do you take for granted your ability to speak and understand Malaysia’s national language? Did you know that not having sufficient fluency in language could result in one’s application for Malaysian citizenship being denied in some situations?

Knowing the national language, known as "Malay language” and "Bahasa Melayu” (BM) in the Federal Constitution’s English and Malay text, is one of the prerequisites for three types of citizenship applications.

(For those who automatically became Malaysians upon birth due to citizenship laws based on the Federal Constitution — or in other words, by operation of law — knowing BM is not a condition to be a citizen.)

Here’s a quick dive into this BM condition and why it matters:

1. Who needs to sit for the BM test and how much do they need to know?

In short: Three categories of citizenship applications require passing Malay language tests, namely for foreign wives of Malaysians who want to be registered as citizens (Article 15(1)), those born in Malaysia before Merdeka who want to be registered as citizens (Article 16), those who want to be naturalised citizens (Article 19).

Unlike the Federal Constitution’s Article 16 and Article 19 that specify the required level of Malay language knowledge to be "elementary” and "adequate”, respectively, the Federal Constitution’s Article 15(1) neither states the fluency of Malay language needed nor that any is even required.

Broadly, Article 15(1) only requires a non-Malaysian woman (legally and still married to a Malaysian) to have lived in Malaysia throughout the two years before applying for Malaysian citizenship and to have the intention to live here permanently, and to be of good character.

Although both the Federal Constitution and the National Registration Department’s (NRD) website do not state that Malaysians’ foreign wives need to know the Malay language to qualify to be a citizen, the Malaysian government in practice does require them to sit for Malay language tests.

This can be seen through what the Home Ministry told the Dewan Rakyat, and the actual on-the-ground experiences of community paralegals — from the non-governmental organisation Development of Human Resources for Rural Areas (DHRRA) Malaysia — who assist citizenship applicants.

In a written parliamentary reply on October 24, 2019, the Home Ministry listed six requirements for citizenship applicants under Article 15(1), including for the marriage to have been registered legally in Malaysia and for the marriage to still exist and continuing, and to complete two years of stay in Malaysia starting from the date of Malaysian permanent resident (MyPR) status, good character as assessed by the police’s security vetting, and to have knowledge of the Malay language as assessed by "Ujian Pengetahuan Bahasa Melayu (UPBM)”.

A November 18, 2019 written parliamentary reply gave a shorter list of five conditions for Article 15(1) applications and did not mention knowledge of the Malay language as one of the requirements.

But citing its community paralegals, DHRRA Malaysia confirmed to Malay Mail that all citizenship applicants under Article 15(1), 16 or 19 would have to sit for an oral test on the Malay language.

2. What are the BM tests like?

When contacted, DHRRA Malaysia told Malay Mail that the NRD typically conducts the Malay language interview on the same day or within a month of a citizenship application being submitted, depending on the NRD.

When asked about the type of questions that citizenship applicants in those three categories have to answer during the NRD’s oral Malay language tests, DHRRA Malaysia said questions could include where the applicant was born, where they studied, and how many children they have.

Other questions could be regarding the Malaysian flag, such as its colour, stripes, symbols; how many states are in Malaysia or to show the flag of the applicant’s state; popular places in Malaysia (such as Batu Caves or Petronas Twin Towers); and the name of the current prime minister, DHRRA Malaysia said.

As for foreigners with entry permits and who are seeking to be naturalised Malaysian citizens under Article 19, DHRRA Malaysia said they sometimes must sing the national anthem Negaraku or to recite the "Rukun Negara”.

Additionally, Article 19 citizenship applicants also must sit for a written test on the Malay language, where they may be asked to "write about her/his story”, DHRRA Malaysia told Malay Mail.

DHRRA Malaysia said no reading tests are carried out for all the citizenship applicants, and that the BM tests for senior citizens are easier.

(It would be a misconception to think that only foreigners or those who are citizens of other countries apply under Article 19 to be a naturalised Malaysian citizen.)

According to DHRRA Malaysia, those born in Malaysia pre-Merdeka could apply under Article 16 if they have birth certificates proving their birth here, while those who are also born here before Merdeka but lack birth certificate would have to apply under Article 19. These pre-Merdeka individuals’ citizenship applications are hampered by factors such as their communities’ lack of awareness of the importance of having legal documents such as birth certificates while living in remote plantations in the past and which resulted in their failure to register their marriages and births of the children, DHRRA Malaysia had previously identified.)

3. What are the government’s thoughts?

In a November 15, 2016 written parliamentary reply regarding those born here pre-Merdeka and those with permanent resident status, the Home Ministry stressed that it is the federal government’s exclusive right to award citizenships and it is the highest award which is not simply offered or given.

"Therefore, to ensure national security and wellbeing, the government has to make a detailed assessment to ensure only those who truly qualify are awarded Malaysian citizenship, have good assimilation with the local culture and residents, have significant contributions to the country and are loyal to His Majesty the Yang di-Pertuan Agong,” it said.

In the same 2016 reply, the ministry also indicated the "elementary” and "adequate” Malay language requirement for Article 16 and Article 19 citizenship applications respectively had been eased, through the ministry’s exempting of applicants aged more than 50 years from written tests.

In an October 23, 2023 written parliamentary reply, the Home Ministry said that fulfilling all the five conditions it listed for Article 19 citizenship applications (which included having "adequate” knowledge of the Malay language) only makes such an individual eligible to submit a citizenship application, "but does not guarantee that the application would be approved”. It also said the burden is on the applicant to prove they are qualified to be awarded Malaysian citizenship and that applications would be considered based on the Federal Constitution’s requirements and the laws.

In a November 7, 2023 written parliamentary reply regarding citizenship applications under the separate category of Article 15A, the Home Ministry spoke generally about citizenship applications which it said have to be given careful consideration to ensure that Malaysian citizenship is given to those who truly qualify under the Federal Constitution and related laws "without affecting the aspect of security and the interests of existing citizens and the country”.

4. Challenges?

In its "Human Rights and Statelessness in Peninsular Malaysia” report released on March 13 this year, the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) highlighted multiple challenges during the citizenship application process, including the lack of information on language proficiency requirements.

The Suhakam report cited the experience of an individual who helps elderly citizenship applicants from villages in estates and plantations, who said such villagers who are likely doing agricultural activities such as rubber tapping would have limited vocabulary in the Malay language as their communication would be limited to things such as buying fish or vegetables.

The individual quoted in the Suhakam report said it would be a "win-win” situation to provide a syllabus for these citizenship applicants where they would learn and know what they are supposed to know about Malaysia, and that they could then be tested based on the syllabus.

"Now without any syllabus and suddenly you ask that old folk at the age of 70 to recite Rukun Negara, he won’t be able to get it right. Even we sometimes can’t really remember everything and they [the applicants] don’t need the Rukun Negara to survive. If you ask them, how do you speak Malay when you buy ikan kembong or whatever, probably they can answer it,” the individual was quoted as saying in the Suhakam report.

5. Why this matters

Why is all this important? There are still elderly persons — those older than even Malaysia — who were born and lived here all their lives without being a citizen of any other country, and are still stateless and not yet recognised as Malaysians.

Failure to meet the Malay language requirement could be the only thing standing in their way of being Malaysians, and this problem of not officially belonging to Malaysia continues today.

Even as recent as the 2000 to September 2016 period (or 59 years since Merdeka), 10,888 persons born here pre-Merdeka applied under Article 16 for citizenship, with 7,422 persons awarded citizenship under this category during the same period.

The Home Ministry received 1,232 applications under Article 16 from 2018 to June this year, and 350 applications of Article 19 applications from those born here pre-Merdeka from 2019 to September this year.

6. How strict is the Malay language assessment?

On October 23 this year, Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail in the Dewan Rakyat said most elderly citizenship applicants fail to pass the evaluation of their fluency in the Malay language, noting that Malaysia also refers to best practices in other countries where those applying for citizenship are required to be able to use those countries’ official language.

Saifuddin Nasution said the passing mark for BM tests is eight, but that he sometimes allow even those who only achieve two marks — such as being able to reply "sama-sama (you’re welcome)” to "terima kasih (thank you)” and being able to reply "khabar baik (I’m well)” for the greeting "apa khabar (how are you?)” — to pass.

While saying that there are those who are unable to form sentences in the Malay language, the minister said that the bar would be lowered for such elderly applicants and that efforts are made to help them in relation to their language constraints.

In a paper by Universiti Malaya student Amalina Che Omar which was also cited by DHRRA in one of its booklets, she had shared what the NRD’s Petaling Jaya office told her in 2012 regarding the procedure to apply for Malaysian citizenship.

Citing an April 19, 2012 interview with Petaling Jaya NRD, Amalina wrote that the BM test is usually conducted by a three-member panel in oral and written form and with the test revolving around current issues and the basics of nationhood, with the need for such tests for senior citizens aged 50 and above subject to NRD’s discretion.

Amalina also shared a response from the 2012 interview, where the NRD’s Petaling Jaya office told her that the number of citizenship applications was growing due to the relaxing of citizenship requirements especially for senior citizens, such as accepting their understanding and ability to speak in Bahasa Malaysia — despite not being fluent — as sufficient.

As of that 2012 interview, the NRD’s Petaling Jaya office was also said to exempt senior citizens from being tested on their ability to read in the Malay language due to their age and education levels.

7. Recommendations

Asked for recommendations on the Malay language tests, DHRRA Malaysia said it hoped that the Home Ministry would provide exemption on the language exam for those who are "born in Malaysia and do not have citizenship of another country”.

DHRRA Malaysia told Malay Mail that the Home Ministry should be "more transparent” by stating the reason for citizenship application rejections if it is due to failed language tests.

DHRRA Malaysia said the ministry should also provide question guides for such language tests for citizenship applicants and put these guides or guidelines online.

Previously in its booklet "Report: Statelessness in Malaysia”, DHRRA had noted that there is "no standard approach or guideline on assessing proficiency in Bahasa Melayu”, and said it had been "advocating for NRD to outline the minimum language proficiency standards to ensure transparency in the language assessment”.

DHRRA Malaysia had previously also recommended standard Malay language tests to be introduced to assess those applying for citizenship.