Turning 108 years old on June 9, Teo received her MyKad from the National Registration Department yesterday after having her application turned down five previous times.

“I had a sleepless night … I was so happy,” she said in Hokkien when met at the NRD office, The Star quoted a report in Sin Chew Daily as saying.

Armed with her MyKad, Teo is now looking forward to being reunited with her brother and daughter who live in China and who she has not seen in over 50 years.

She is also hoping to catch up with other relatives and friends she left behind in southern China’s Fujian province more than 60 years ago when she crossed the seas in search of a better life in Malaysia.

According to The Star report, Teo came to Malaysia as an odd-job worker at 46 years old, with her two children in tow. Life in China was tough to say the least, after she was forced to take on odd jobs to help supplement her family’s meagre income after losing her father while she was still young.

Her son enjoys permanent residence status although Teo’s other wish is that he, like her, can be recognised as a Malaysian some day soon.

Teo was accompanied to the NRD by her daughter-in-law, grandson and Gerakan public complaints bureau chief Lau Hoi Keong.