One of the most significant pieces of documentation a Malaysian has is their birth certificate. A child without the certificate won’t be able to obtain proper healthcare, attend school, or officially identify as a Malaysian in any way.
Only Jabatan Pendaftaran Negara (JPN), also known as the National Registration Department, can issue birth certificates. However, as people have been attempting to forge fake birth certificates, they have decided to do something about it.
Bernama reported that starting next year, JPN will be issuing a new birth certificate with some new security features.
Home Affairs Minister, Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin said that one of the security features will be implementing a watermark on the certificate to prevent forgery.
When someone brings the document to JPN, we will know whether it is a genuine copy. Children born next year will be given the new birth certificate.
Home Affairs Minister, Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainuddin
He added the existing birth certificates are still valid and you don’t have to get yours changed to the new one.
Besides putting a watermark on the certificates, JPN will also be introducing a new design, and a new type of paper and ink with which to print the new birth certificates.
JPN also announced that 38 documents under their purview including birth certificates and marriage registers, will be getting security upgrades as well, starting next year.
