Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail recently participated in the Bahasa Melayu proficiency test for senior citizens seeking citizenship as a way of obtaining Malaysian citizenship.
Mixed opinions have been expressed over a video that shows Saifuddin answering some basic interview questions at KDN Ipoh, Perak.
A panel of three interviewers conducted an interview with a few senior candidates in the video. In several of these interviews, Saifuddin sat in to ask questions. Simple questions and picture cards are used to evaluate basic Bahasa Melayu.
A few individuals feel that the elderly applicants in the video were treated in a dehumanizing and condescending manner since they underwent this treatment and were used as social media fodder to demonstrate that they had resided in the area their entire lives.
Consequently, the video was perceived as a poor public relations decision since it took advantage of marginalized communities for political gain. Internet users questioned whether international football players who received official naturalization were the targets of the same embarrassing public relations ploy.
A different group of individuals applauded Saifuddin for doing something right and saw nothing wrong with the video. They think the approach demonstrated the candidates' long-term residency and was sufficiently polite. Meanwhile, others think that because the older applicants have lived in this area for a long time especially those who were born before independence they should be granted a pass.
