Malaysiakini.com(http://www.malaysiakini.com)
Convert's suit dismissed as name no longer exists, 6 August 2008
PUTRAJAYA: An appeal by a Muslim convert to practise the religion of her choice as she had used her original Chinese name in her suit was dismissed by the Court of Appeal yesterday.
In a majority ruling, the court said the convert's Chinese name no longer existed following her conversion to Islam.
Judge Tengku Baharudin Shah Tengku Mahmud and Datuk Sulong Matjeraie were in the majority while Datuk Vincent Ng Kim Khoay dissented.
Tengku Baharudin said the appellant was not a legal entity as her previous name no longer existed after she had obtained a new identity card.
Following the ruling, two other similar appeals were also dismissed on the same grounds.
At the outset of the appeal, Tengku Baharudin asked parties whether the appeal was competent because the convert's original Chinese name was used.
Lim Yoke Khoon took the name of Noorashikin Lim Abdullah when she converted to Islam.
Lawyer Edmond Bon, who was appearing for Lim, said there was no confusion as to the identity of the person, whether she carried her Chinese name or Muslim name.
"She is a living, legal and natural person seeking legal rights to enforce her rights to convert out of Islam," he said.
He said the respondents did not dispute this fact at the High Court.
Selangor State Legal Adviser Datin Paduka Zauyah Loth Khan, who appeared for the Selangor Religious Council and the state government, submitted that Lim's appeal was incompetent because her identity card carried a Muslim name.
"But the suit contained her Chinese name," she said.
Senior Federal Counsel Arik Sanusi Yeop Johar said only the National Registration Department (NRD) was the rightful authority to change the name of a Malaysian.
He also said the Court of Appeal could decide on the legal status of the convert although the High Court had overlooked the matter.
In her originating summons, Lim, now 35, said she had to convert when she married a Muslim in 1994. She obtained a new identity card which carried her Muslim name.
She said she did not have a happy marriage, and three years later, when they were divorced, she wanted to become a Christian and marry a non-Muslim.
In June 2003, she made a statutory declaration and a deed poll declaring that she had renounced Islam and converted to Christianity and taken her original Chinese name.
She applied to the NRD to change her name and religion in the identity card.
However, the NRD rejected her application and asked for a certificate from a syariah court or the Selangor Religious Council as proof that she had renounced Islam.
In 2003, she also filed an action in the High Court in Shah Alam seeking a declaration that she was no longer a Muslim.
She also wanted a court order to direct the NRD to amend details in her identity card.
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