WHEN might a parent not be a parent? From what can be surmised from the home ministers reply in Parliament to a question regarding Malaysian-born children who are denied Malaysian citizenship, a parent is only a parent if the birth father and the birth mother are officially married (proved by registration in Malaysia) at the time of the childs birth. In the context of whether or not a Malaysian-born child could be granted citizenship by virtue of his or her parent being a Malaysian citizen, the minister probably did not mean it to be a denial of genetic fact; but, if the state officially does not recognise parental connection, then, isnt it the same thing? The argument may work from the Muslim perspective, in which paternal nasab (lineage) is not recognised if the parents are not married at the time of the childs birth. But that is a specific religious issue, not a national one; and it surely should not be applied across the board.
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