107-year-old woman becomes oldest person to receive a MyKad

After five failed attempts, a 107-year-old woman finally obtained her MyKad, making her the oldest person to become a Malaysian.

Teo Kim Len was clearly excited when she collected her identification card at the National Registration Department (NRD) – three weeks shy of her 108th birthday on 9 June. 

“I had a sleepless night … I was so happy,” she told Sin Chew Daily.

Now, she said, she has the opportunity to travel to China to meet her relatives after spending the last 61 years in Malaysia.

“I am very sad, after coming to Malaysia for a few decades I have not visited China,” she was quoted as saying. “I hope to visit my hometown, to meet my family and friends, I still have a brother and a daughter in China.” 

According to the Chinese daily, Teo led a very tough life after coming to then-Malaya from China’s Fujian province in 1955, when she was 46.

Her father passed away when she was very young, leaving her to look after her siblings and support them by doing all sorts of odd jobs, including washing clothes for others, just to earn a living.

Teo also said that she came to Malaysia with two children, with one obtaining citizenship right after independence while the other had a permanent resident status like her. She hopes that her son would get his MyKad soon so that they could visit their relatives together.