According to the national registration department (JPN), applicants who wish to correct the name, date or place of birth should provide supporting documents to prove a factual mistake in the earlier registration for consideration by the department.

However, according to JPN, any amendment of information in the personal identification document may have implications in several other areas for the applicant, such as in banking, education and health.

“JPN only handles the issue under its authority, such as birth certificate and identity card (MyKad).

“Nonetheless, if related parties need confirmation on the personal identification document of a subject, JPN is willing to cooperate,” the department said in a statement today.

JPN issued the statement in reply to a Bernama report about a twin sister who was swapped with another child at birth and how the three girls and the two affected families only found out the truth last year, 19 years later.

The truth unfolded after a DNA test conducted in September last year confirmed that one of the twins had been switched at birth with another baby girl born just minutes apart.

Kelantan mufti Mohamad Shukri Mohamad was reported as saying that babies who are accidentally swapped at birth and raised by parents who are not their biological parents have to take the name of their biological father after the truth is known to avoid complications in the future, especially in terms of inheritance.

According to JPN, the department had received many applications to amend various information on identification documents, including changing the father’s name.

However, JPN could not provide any statistics on the matter.