MyKad

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MyKad, or Government Multipurpose Card, (GMPC) is the official compulsory identity card of Malaysia. It is regarded as the world's first smart identity card. Part of the Multimedia Super Corridor flagship applications, it was officially launched on September 5, 2001 and incorporates a microchip, which contains several items of data including biometrics. As of 2006, MyKad has eight current and several planned applications which are mostly related to proof of identity or electronic money. From March 2003, a variant issuable to newborn babies was introduced, known as MyKid.

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[edit] Name

The names MyKad and MyKid are both plays on words. My can mean MY, the ISO-3166-1 country code for Malaysia (more widely known in its form as the country code top-level domain .my), or the English first person possessive pronoun my, indicating ownership of the card. Kad is a transliteration of the English word Card (pronunciation and meaning being the same in Malay), as well as an acronym or backronym of Kad Akuan Diri which translates to 'Personal Identification Card'. Kid is an English slang for child and also stands for Kad Identiti Diri, which means Personal Identity Card.

[edit] Eligibility and adoption

All Malaysian citizens and permanent residents 12 years old or above are eligible for a MyKad. From 2001, it gradually replaced an older Malaysian Identity Card system, that had been in use since 1949 under British colonial rule, with the intention of becoming ubiquitous by 2007.

Adoption was optional but spurred by the waiving of the application fee of between RM20 and RM50 until 31 December 2005. As of 27 December 2005, 1,180,208 Malaysians still held an old identity card. After the waiving period ended on 31 December 2005, each new application (first time application) comes with a fee of RM10.

All newborn babies are issued with a MyKid. This is "upgraded" to a MyKad on the 12th birthday. The MyKad must be replaced when a person reaches 18 years old, as it is a requirement that the photograph be 'current'.

MyKad must be carried at all times. Failure to do so may incur a fine of between RM3,000 and RM20,000 or jail term of up to three years.

[edit] Technical specifics and applications

The MyKad is a piece of plastic with an embedded microchip and has the dimensions of a standard credit card. The original card contained a 32Kb EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory) chip running on the M-COS (MyKad Chip Operating System) operating system. In November 2002, the capacity was increased to 64Kb. A register of all cardholders is kept by the National Registration Department of Malaysia, which operates the MyKad system.

Citizens own a blue coloured card, while that for permanent residents is red; the MyKid is pink in colour. The MyKad project was developed at a cost of RM276 million and was originally intended to have four functions:

  • Identity card, including fingerprints and photo
  • Driving licence
  • Passport in Malaysia and several neighbouring countries, although a conventional passport is still required internationally - this should reduce congestion at Malaysian borders as holders will pass through unmanned gates using biometric (fingerprint) identification
  • storage for health information

However, four further applications were added before or during its initial release,

At this time, most of the functions are still not widely used because they are not widely promoted.

The extensible design of the card may be leading to functionality creep. Further applications envisaged by the government include:

  • frequent travellers' card
  • a merge with the Payment Multi-Purpose Card ('PMPC'), giving the MyKad credit and debit card functions that will pave the way for other financial uses

The MyKid has no photograph of the owner, and only contains three categories of data:

  • personal information and limited information on the parents
  • health information
  • education information, for enrollment in school

Information on race and religion is included in the MyKad and these are stored on the chip. However, if the stated religion is Islam, the word 'ISLAM' would be printed on the card. There have been numerous errors, of up to 25% in one church congregation, in the religion field, leading to speculation of a conspiracy to mark non-Muslim cardholders as Muslim[1]. Previously, those whose religion had been recorded incorrectly might have had to pay a fee, or undergo tedious negotiations including the production of baptismal certificates or other letters, to fix their information. In December 2005, the government apologized for the problems caused and attempted to rectify the correction procedure by providing a single form, Form A. The main cause of the problem was probably that, depending on the way one applied for the MyKad, such information was not always entered. For those with errors, the government has assured that the fix will be free of charge.

The numbering of the individual MyKad utilizes a 12-digit numbering system (usual format: YYMMDD-BP-###G, used since 1991) known as the Identification Card number (IC) is issued to MyKad holders. On the back of the card, there is an additional 2-digit number after the 12-digit number to indicate the number of MyKad which a person previously held.

The MyKad Indentification Card number follows the format, YYMMDD-BP-###G where YYMMDD represent the holder's birth date but this is not always the case as this is an unofficial feature. This allows the system to take into account cases where the holder is unable to prove his or her actual date of birth according to the Gregorian calendar due to lack of documentation, translation of calendars or simply not knowing. Unfortunately, general acceptance of this as the official date of birth has led to much confusion and error.

The ###G represents generic serial numbers. The odd numbers for G denotes male while the even numbers denote female.

Below is the codes used for BP which represent the country of birth for the individuals.(Source: JPN)

BP code States/Countries
23,21,22,23,24,01 Johor
27,26,25,02 Kedah
29,28,03 Kelantan
30,04 Malacca
59,31,05 Negeri Sembilan
33,32,06 Pahang
35,34,07 Penang
39,38,37,36,08 Perak
40,09 Perlis
44,43,42,41,10 Selangor
46,45,11 Terengganu
49,48,47,12 Sabah
53,52,51,50,13 Sarawak
57,56,55,54,14 Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur
58,15 Federal Territory of Labuan
16 Federal Territory of Putrajaya & Cyberjaya
66 Singapore
60 Brunei
71 United Kingdom
91 United States
86 The Netherlands and Norway
77 Saudi Arabia

[edit] PKI and MyKad

MyKad PKI application allows for two digital certificates to be inserted in the MyKad. MyKad holders can apply and purchase the digital certificates from two of Malaysia's certification authority, MSCTrustgate.com Sdn. Bhd. and DigiCert Sdn. Bhd..

PKI allows for easy securing of private data over public telecommunications networks, thus allowing, secure electronic transactions over the Internet which include:

[edit] MyKad as a travel document

Frequent travellers between Malaysia and Brunei can use MyKad as a travel document[1].

As Malaysia stopped issuing and renewing Restricted Passports beginning on 1 January 2006, Malaysia considered negotiating with Singapore to allow frequent Malaysian travellers to enter Singapore using MyKad. However, Singapore rejected the use of MyKad by frequent Malaysian travellers to enter the country, citing security concerns.

[edit] Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) Flagship

The MyKad is one of the seven Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) Flagship Applications of the Malaysian government. The others are:

  • Electronic Government
  • Borderless Marketing
  • World Wide Web Manufacturing
  • R & D Cluster
  • Telehealth
  • Smart School

[edit] National Registration Act 1959 (Act 78) and Regulations

In exercise of the powers conferred by section 6 of the National Registration Act 1959 the Minister makes the following regulations:

<omitted>

8. Power to require the production of identity card within protected area or protected place.

Any authorized officer as defined by the Protected Areas and Protected Places Act 1959 may in his discretion require any person entering or found within any protected area or protected place to produce his identity card or his Government multi-purpose card, as the case may be, and upon being satisfied with the identity of that person, shall return the identity card or the Government multi-purpose card to him, and thereafter issue a temporary identity pass or permit for so long as such person remains within such area or place.

8A. Detaining an identity card of another person is an offence.

It shall be an offence punishable under regulation 25 for any reason, not being an officer referred to under subregulation 7(1) to unreasonably detain any identity card other than his own.

<omitted>

No unauthorized persons, including security guards, are allowed to retain the MyKads (identity cards) of other people. Only those authorized by the National Registration Department, like the police and immigration officers, can do so, said National Registration Department director-general Mohd Abdul Halim Muhammad.

He said that the National Registration Act clearly states that only authorized personnel could ask visitors to show them their MyKads for identity verification and recording purposes. The MyKads must be returned to the visitors immediately, he said.

"The law states clearly that any security personnel who retains another person’s MyKad is committing an offence and liable to be charged under the Act."

Abdul Halim told The Star this when asked to comment on complaints from several readers that security officers in public buildings and gated communities retained their MyKads before allowing them to enter.

"Even departments like the Road Transport Department must get the authority card from NRD to request for MyKads in the process of their work or enforcement," he said.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Malaysia and Brunei to allow frequent travellers to use ICs

[edit] See also

Hong Kong Identity Card, the second Smart ID card system

[edit] External links

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MSC Malaysia
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e-Government • MyKad
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