Tabed is flanked by Anna and Elvira during the interview in the family’s home in Long Tuma.
LAWAS (June 17): Tabed Raru is among the former border scouts who risked their lives to defend the then new nation of Malaysia during the confrontation with Indonesia and communist insurgency.
He recalled that in 1962, the government was looking for volunteers to help fight the communists in Lawas.
“The government asked for help. And the help was not easy. We were risking our lives in a war. We fought using guns,” he told The Borneo Post today.
Although the Long Tuma resident now requires imaging tests at Limbang Hospital due to kidney stones, he has been denied the use of an ambulance for travel through Brunei.
“After all that I have done in my early years, sacrificing my life during the Confrontation, this is what I get in the end?” said an obviously frustrated and heartbroken Tabed.
Despite his sacrifices for the country, the 78-year-old still has not been granted Malaysian citizenship.
Recently, the doctor attending to him at Lawas Hospital told Tabed he could not be transferred in an ambulance to Limbang because of this.
“The doctor told me that I need to go to Limbang Hospital first to do my scanning and after that I will have to go to Miri Hospital for further treatment.
“I was also told to process my citizenship, so that I can use the ambulance services to go to Limbang for the scanning and later on to take a flight to Miri,” he said.
Tabed pointed out that despite his many attempts to apply for Malaysian citizenship, the National Registration Department (JPN) has yet to give him a reply.
He even recalled being interviewed by JPN personnel on his experience as a former border scout.
“They told me to wait. They said my documents had been sent out and asked to me to wait. I have waited for so long and until today I have not received any calls from them,” he said.
According to Tabed, the doctor said he would have to find other means to travel to Limbang but would have to bear the costs on his own.
“I cannot afford to take flights nor can my family. What choice do I have now other than to wait for the government to give my due citizenship?” he questioned.
Travelling by car to Limbang Hospital from Long Tuma would take about one hour via the Brunei border.
On average a return flight ticket to Miri from Lawas costs RM250 per person.
He added that there are no relatives he can turn to for assistance in Miri.
Tabed’s nine children are also stateless, with four of them having temporary identity cards (MyKAS) that need to be renewed every five years.
His wife, Anna Daring, 68, is also stateless, even though both her parents and all her siblings are Malaysians.
“My mother had applied several times, but her application continued to be rejected,” revealed Tabed and Anna’s daughter Elvira.
“We thought, why doesn’t JPN allow her to take a DNA test to see if she is her siblings’ biological sister?”