COMMENT | I refer to the ongoing parliamentary session where the Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2024 is expected to be debated.

In March, Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail tabled the proposed constitutional amendments which aimed, among others, at granting equal rights to Malaysian mothers to confer citizenship to their children born abroad.

A progressive and laudable moment in Malaysia was turned into a fiasco and citizenship crisis when the government also sought to include several regressive amendments including removing the automatic citizenship of foundlings and children of Malaysian permanent residents born in the country.