Headline: Elderly up in arms over MyKad

New Sunday Times
Date : 13/06/2004
Page:13
Byline : By R.S. Kamini
Type : News

KUALA LUMPUR, Sat. - Senior citizens are up in arms over the National Registration Department's insistence that the white background for Mykad photographs will not be changed.
They said the government department should take into consideration the feelings of those who had white hair and appear "ugly" and "ghastly" in the photographs.
NRD director-general Datuk Wan Ibrahim Wan Ahmad said yesterday its computerised camera had been programmed to only accept the white background and the department had no intention of changing it.
Leong Seng Piew, 63, who runs a salon at Bangsar, said the NRD's reasons were not acceptable and showed the bureaucracy of government departments.
"Machines seem more important than people," he said.
He said in these days when even the young coloured their hair, there was a need to be flexible and government departments should not dictate how a person maintains his "crown".
Noraini Abdullah and Mohd Arif Ishak, both 54, agreed that a coloured backdrop that brought out the natural look of individuals should be made available.
Retired diplomat, Datuk K.T. Ratnam, 73, said he could barely recognise himself in the card.
"An identification card is meant to identify the holder and I can't even recognise my own photo even after I was asked to take it twice. I look like I am wearing a white wig."
Insurance manager G. Sunderesvaran, 51, is also dissatisfied with his photograph on the Mykad and said the NRD should deliver quality service, including a good photograph.
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