POKOK SENA: Growing up was difficult for Omar Mokhtar Abdul Rahman from Pokok Sena due to his status as a stateless person.
The 20-year-old's greatest fear was being unable to further his studies despite achieving excellent results for his Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia (STPM) examination.
Without an identification document, even his achievement of scoring a 4.0 cumulative grade point average (CGPA) for STPM would not be able help him land a spot at the university.
"Ever since I was 12, these problems had persisted. Entering secondary school was challenging enough.
"People always talk about my citizenship status and it made me ashamed of not having an IC while growing up.
"All I want is to further my studies to pursue my dream of becoming a teacher," he said.
As all hope seemed to be lost for him, Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) provided him with a much-needed avenue.
Today, UUM vice-chancellor, Professor Dr Haim Hilman Abdullah visited Omar's home in Kampung Kuala Lanjut, Pokok Sena to present him with an offer to enrol in any course he wishes to pursue at the university. The offer letter also came with a full scholarship.
"I am very grateful for having received this offer from UUM and Dr Haim himself," said the former student of SMK Kubur Panjang.
Omar was one of the thousands of stateless children in the country. His parents were married in a neighbouring country but did not register their marriage with the authorities back home.
Stateless children could not secure identification document, denying them access to all the benefits enjoyed by Malaysian citizens.
Omar had been appealing for citizenship with the Home Ministry for over five years but all his efforts had been unsuccessful.
Meanwhile, Haim called on parties involved with citizenship status issues involving children to step up and urged the relevant authorities to look into the stateless children's plight.
"Hopefully the offers from UUM will help Omar to achieve his dream one day," he said.
Haim later presented the same offer to another excellent STPM student from the same village, Salmah Aminudin, 20, who also obtained a 4.0 CGPA for her STPM.
Salmah, from an underprivileged family, expressed her gratitude for the offer.
She lives with her cancer-stricken grandmother, Aishah Saad, 82, following the demise of her father, Aminuddin Abdul Hamid four years ago.
Her mother, Romlah Tasu, 56, was placed at a senior citizens' care home in Kamunting, Perak as she suffers from schizophrenia.
"Grandma is suffering from cervical cancer and we are depending on the monthly allowance from the Welfare Department," she said.
The media had recently highlighted Omar and Salmah's predicament of being unable to further their studies despite obtaining excellent results in the STPM.
On Friday, the duo received cash aid of RM1,500 each from Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob under the Keluarga Malaysia Foundation at Jelajah Keluarga Malaysia in Alor Star.