After eight years of uncertainty, he finally got hold of his birth certificate on his birthday today.

And when he got it, the young boy held on to it for dear life, refusing to part with it.

Even at the tender age of eight, Solaman knew how important the birth certificate was to his life.

After being presented with the certificate, the Year Two student of SJK(T) Bayan Lepas refused to let go of the document, even when blowing out the candles on his birthday cake at his home in Permatang Damar Laut, Bayan Lepas, near here.

Malaysia Hindudharma Mamandram committee member SV Manimaran received the certificate from the National Registration Department (JPN) one week ago but decided to present it to Solaman only today to make the occasion a very special one.

“When I grow up, I want to be a police officer,” Solaman told reporters after eating a slice of his birthday cake.

Solaman’s father M Ramadass, 32, said he had faced problems getting the document because he and his ex-wife did not register their marriage with JPN.

The mother left the family when the boy was just two years old.

“I have attempted to register my son’s birth for the past six years, but it was difficult due to JPN’s strict rules,” Ramadass said.

Thanking Malaysia Hindudharma Mamandram (Penang Branch) for their hard work pursuing his son’s case, Ramadass said he was also grateful to JPN.

Manimaran said he only found out about the family’s problem when he stumbled upon the father and son walking around the neighbourhood last year when the child should have been studying.

He said his association then helped to get Solaman enrolled in school.

“It was a challenging and tedious process. It took us a year and two months to get the birth certificate,” he said.

Manimaran said his association was now working on getting power supply restored at Ramadass’s house, as the family had been living without electricity for the past three years.

Ramadass earns about RM50 daily as an odd-job labourer and was unable to pay the electricity bills, he added.