About 43% don’t carry MyKad

About 43% don’t carry MyKad

PETALING JAYA: MyKad ... don’t leave home without it? Many do.

Nearly 43% of The Star readers who took part in an online poll revealed that they do not carry their MyKad with them at all times.

In fact, the reasons they gave for not doing so suggest that many readers may not be carrying the card with them at all.

“The MyKad contains confidential information. If it falls into the wrong hands, that’s it,” said Dharmalingam of Rawang.

The National Registration Department advised Malaysians yesterday to have the card with them at all times, and warned that if they were caught without it, they could face a fine of between RM3,000 and RM20,000 or jail term of up to three years.

Many of the readers who walk around “MyKad-less” said they were daunted by the “hassle” of applying for a replacement if they were to lose the card.

“If you lose it, there is no one to blame but yourself, and you have to go to all the trouble to get one back,” said James Wong of Petaling Jaya.

Said another reader: “Why would I want to carry something I rarely use? It’s a great hassle if it gets stolen.

“Just carry a photocopy.”

For readers who had lost their identification cards before, it was a case of once bitten, twice shy.

“I have been a victim of pickpockets and snatch thieves, each of them twice. For each of those incidents, I not only had to get a replacement but pay a fine as well,” said Adeline of Batu Caves.

It costs a total of RM30 in fines and fees (RM10 each for application and processing fee, and a RM10 fine) for the first replacement. The fine progressively increases to a maximum of RM100 for the fourth replacement and beyond, according to information on the NRD website (www.jpn.gov.my).

Of the 288 readers who participated in the poll, 166 (57%) said they had their MyKad with them at all times, including Rita of Banting, who claimed to have lost her identification card “not once, but five times.”

She also felt that the penalties for not carrying the MyKad were “fair”, an opinion shared by just 13% of readers.

About 81% said the fine and jail sentence were “excessive”, while 2% said it was “lenient”. About 4% were unsure.

The Star 2006.07.08

Comments
I think that the in such case, it implies of how silly or stupid our Malaysia goverment can be.Why? Because first the sum of penalty is not realistic and most people will ignore them

The goverment official need to use their brain to work not to use their mouth and talk over it during tea time with full of cream and butter in their mouth. How they should expect the citizens to afford of such penalty for NOT carrying MyKad? I know that a rapist have lesser penaly than this, is this actually a fair country we are living in?

A more better approach is to ask for those whom does NOT carry the Mykad to do community services. That is a much better approach and more efficient rather than get them to pay something not possible and create a hatred to the goverment