Published on 31 May 2023

发表于2023年5月31日

Generally, children in Malaysia take after their father’s surname. Nevertheless, there are instances where the surname of children is that of their mother’s. 

At this point, it is pertinent to look at Section 13A of the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1957 (Act 299) which provides as follows: 

“(1) The surname, if any, to be entered in respect of a legitimate child shall ordinarily be the surname, if any, of the father. 

(2) The surname, if any, to be entered in respect of an illegitimate child may where the mother is the informant and volunteers the information, be the surname of the mother; provided that where the person acknowledging himself to be the father of the child in accordance with the provisions of section 13 requests so, the surname may be the surname of that person.” 

Legitimate Child (where the parents are legally married at birth) 

Section 13A(1) provides that the surname of a legitimate child shall be the father’s surname. Nevertheless, it does not preclude a legitimate child to have his/her mother’s surname. 

In Tong Sek Ee v Ho Shu Joon & Anor [2021] 4 MLJ 210; [2021] 3 CLJ 119, the Court of Appeal held that the word “ordinarily” in Section 13A allows parents to make specific agreement to the general proposition where they are allowed to exchange, abrogate or relinquish their rights. However, there ought to be a basis or reason for such exchange, abrogation or relinquishment, which depends on the facts and circumstances. 

In YAY v WHO & Anor [2023] 9 MLJ 169, the mother has given birth to a legitimate child without the adulterous father’s knowledge, and while registering the child’s birth, has given her surname to the child’s name instead of the father’s surname without cogent reason or explanation, which in the court’s view was out of spite and bitterness towards the father for his adulterous relationship. Whereas the father had never intended for the child to be denied his surname. During trial, the mother has testified to leave the surname of the child to the discretion of the court, to which the High Court held that the child should be given the father’s surname taking into consideration the interest of the child’s welfare.  

Illegitimate Child (where the parents are not legally married at birth) 

Section 13 of Act 299 provides as follows: 

“Notwithstanding anything in the foregoing provisions of this Act, in the case of an illegitimate child, no person shall as father of the child be required to give information concerning the birth of the child, and the Registrar shall not enter in the register the name of any person as father of the child except at the joint request of the mother and the person acknowledging himself to be the father of the child, and that person shall in that case sign the register together with the mother.” 

Section 13 provides that the name of the father of an illegitimate child shall be entered on the condition that the register is jointly requested and signed by both parents. 

Section 13A(2) further provides that the surname of an illegitimate child may be the mother’s surname. Nevertheless, at the request of the father, an illegitimate child may have the father’s surname. 

In the circumstances where the father is not present together with the mother during registration of birth, be it the father is unwilling to acknowledge himself as the father or is not aware of the birth or registration of birth of the child, the section of name of the father will be stated as “maklumat tidak diperolehi” (‘information not available’). 

Following the Federal Court’s decision in Leow Fook Keong (L) v Pendaftar Besar Bagi Kelahiran dan Kematian, Jabatan Pendaftaran Negara, Malaysia & Anor [2022] 1 MLJ 398; [2022] 1 CLJ 23, which held that when the information pertaining to the father is made available, the Registrar or Superintendent-Registrar of Births and Deaths has statutory duty to correct the record on the information of the father under Section 27(3) of the 299 Act, objection by the mother of an illegitimate child to insert the information of the father when paternity is proven by the father may not be entertained.  

Regrettably, the issue on whether the child is to be given the father’s surname at the father’s request when the mother objects to the request was not pursued by the father and discussed by the Federal Court in Leow Fook Keong, and the judgment of the Court of Appeal in dismissing the father’s claim for the child to take his surname is not publicly available.  

However, the High Court in Ratna Dewi bt Hisham Louis & Anor v Jabatan Pendaftaran Negara & Anor (Majlis Agama Islam Negeri Sembilan, intervener) [2022] MLJU 3414 has stated in passing that the word “may” in Section 13A(2) means that the registrar giving an illegitimate child the father’s surname is subject to the discretion of the registrar. 

The birth certificate of an illegitimate child will contain a notation of “Permohonan Seksyen 13” (‘Section 13 Application’), which indicates that the child is an illegitimate child. In Jabatan Pendaftaran Negara & Ors v A Child & Ors (Majlis Agama Islam Negeri Johor, intervener) [2020] 2 MLJ 277; [2020] 4 CLJ 731, the Federal Court held that the notation of “Permohonan Seksyen 13” is a true reflection of the facts surrounding the registration of birth of an illegitimate child and is not discriminatory. 

It should be noted that the legitimacy of children to Muslim parents is governed by Islamic law and the child may not be a legitimate child of the parents despite being born after the marriage of the parents.  

In Jabatan Pendaftaran Negara & Ors v A Child & Ors (Majlis Agama Islam Negeri Johor, intervener), the Federal Court held that Section 13A is only relevant to a person who has a surname such as Chinese and “bin”, “binti”, “a/l” or “a/p” is attributed to a person’s personal name. Therefore, Section 13A is not applicable to Malay Muslim to be named with the personal name of the father, and the Director General of National Registration may refer to Islamic law in the registration of birth regarding the naming of an illegitimate Muslim child. 

This article is meant to provide general information on the topic and may not apply to all jurisdictions. If you require our advice and services on registration of birth, please contact us. 

马来西亚的孩子一般都随父姓。 然而，在某些情况下，孩子的姓氏是母亲的姓氏。 

《1957年出生及死亡登记法令》（第299法令）第13A条规定如下： 

“(1) The surname, if any, to be entered in respect of a legitimate child shall ordinarily be the surname, if any, of the father. 

(2) The surname, if any, to be entered in respect of an illegitimate child may where the mother is the informant and volunteers the information, be the surname of the mother; provided that where the person acknowledging himself to be the father of the child in accordance with the provisions of section 13 requests so, the surname may be the surname of that person.” 

婚生子女（出生时父母为合法夫妻） 

第13A(1)条规定婚生子女的姓氏应为父亲的姓氏。 然而，这并不排除婚生子女随母姓。 

上诉法院在Tong Sek Ee v Ho Shu Joon & Anor [2021] 4 MLJ 210; [2021] 3 CLJ 119裁定第13A条中 “ordinarily”一字允许父母对常规做出特定的协议，允许他们交换、废除或放弃其权利。 然而，这种交换、废除或放弃应有依据或理由，而这有赖于事实和情况。 

在YAY v WHO & Anor [2023] 9 MLJ 169 中，母亲在通奸的丈夫不知情的情况下生下了一个婚生子女，并且在为孩子登记出生时，在没有中肯的理由或解释下在孩子的名字加上她的姓氏，而不是父亲的姓氏。此举在法院看来，是出于对父亲通奸的恶意和怨恨。 而父亲从未打算让孩子不随父姓。 在审讯过程中，母亲作证说孩子的姓氏由法院酌情决定。高等法院裁定，考虑到孩子的福利利益，孩子应随父姓。 

非婚生子女（俗称私生子，出生时父母非合法夫妻） 

 第299法令第13条规定如下： 

“Notwithstanding anything in the foregoing provisions of this Act, in the case of an illegitimate child, no person shall as father of the child be required to give information concerning the birth of the child, and the Registrar shall not enter in the register the name of any person as father of the child except at the joint request of the mother and the person acknowledging himself to be the father of the child, and that person shall in that case sign the register together with the mother.” 

第13条规定非婚生子女父亲的姓名只有在父母双方共同要求并签署的情况下记入注册纪录。 

第13A(2)条规定非婚生子女的姓氏可以是母亲的姓氏。 然而，在父亲的要求下，非婚生子女可以随父姓。 

在出生登记时父亲不在场的情况下，无论是父亲不愿承认自己是父亲，还是不知道孩子的出生或出生登记，父亲姓名的部分将被述明为“maklumat tidak diperolehi”（‘未获提供资料’）。 

根据联邦法院在Leow Fook Keong (L) v Pendaftar Besar Bagi Kelahiran dan Kematian, Jabatan Pendaftaran Negara, Malaysia & Anor [2022] 1 MLJ 398; [2022] 1 CLJ 23中的判决，即当与父亲有关的资料备妥时，注册处处长或注册处监督有法定责任根据第299 法令第27(3)条更正有关父亲信息的纪录，非婚生子女母亲在父亲身份已证实的情况下对加入父亲信息的反对可能不会被受理。 

遗憾的是，在Leow Fook Keong有关在母亲反对父亲的要求的情况下孩子是否随父姓的问题没被父亲追究，所以联邦法院并没有讨论。而上诉法院驳回父亲要求孩子随父姓的申索的判决并未公开。 

然而，高等法院在Ratna Dewi bt Hisham Louis & Anor v Jabatan Pendaftaran Negara & Anor (Majlis Agama Islam Negeri Sembilan, intervener) [2022] MLJU 3414附带一提第13A(2)条中的“may”一字意味着让非婚生子女随父姓是注册处处长的酌情决定权。 

非婚生子女的出生证明书（俗称报生纸）将包含“Permohonan Seksyen 13”（‘第13条申请’）的注明，表明该子女是非婚生子女。 在Jabatan Pendaftaran Negara & Ors v A Child & Ors (Majlis Agama Islam Negeri Johor, intervener) [2020] 2 MLJ 277; [2020] 4 CLJ 731，联邦法院裁定“Permohonan Seksyen 13”的注明真实反映了非婚生子女出生登记的事实，并不具有歧视性。 

值得注意的是穆斯林父母的孩子的婚生地位受伊斯兰法律管限。尽管孩子在父母结婚后出生，该孩子可能不是父母的婚生子女。  

在Jabatan Pendaftaran Negara & Ors v A Child & Ors (Majlis Agama Islam Negeri Johor, intervener)中，联邦法院裁定第13A条只适用于有姓氏的人如华裔，而“bin”、“binti”、“a/l”或“a/p”归属于个人名字。 因此，第13A条不适用于以父亲的个人名字命名的马来穆斯林，且国民登记总监可以在出生登记中参考有关非婚生穆斯林子女命名的伊斯兰法律。 

本文旨在提供有关该主题的一般信息，可能并不适用于所有司法管辖区。如果您需要有关出生登记的法律意见和服务，请联系我们。