IPOH: Sultan of Perak Sultan Azlan Shah handed a lifeline to R. Ragu with instructions that the "stateless" man be issued a temporary identification document pending his application for a MyKad.

The order was given to state Registration Department director Mohd Sufian Omar at Istana Kinta here yesterday afternoon.

State executive councillor A. Sivanesan, who was also present at the 45-minute meeting, said later that Sultan Azlan Shah wanted Ragu's problem to be resolved as soon as possible.

"Sultan Azlan Shah ordered that Ragu be issued the temporary document within the next three to four days," Sivanesan said.

He said the sultan expressed grave concern over the plight of Ragu and his family who have been sleeping and bathing at petrol stations since their arrival here.

"He was very sympathetic."

The New Straits Times over the last two days had been highlighting the plight of Ragu who was told by the National Registration Department (NRD) in Putrajaya to get a letter from Sultan Azlan Shah to enable him to obtain a permanent identification document.

Ragu, 33, his 27-year-old wife G. Neelaawathi, and their three children, between the ages of two and nine, arrived in Ipoh on Tuesday to meet Sultan Azlan Shah to obtain the necessary supporting document for his MyKad application.

Sivanesan said he would be following up with Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar on Ragu's MyKad application.

Ragu, who was allowed to enter the palace compound with his family to wait for Sivanesan, expressed his gratitude to Sultan Azlan Shah.

"I have applied for the MyKad eight times since 1998 but have failed each time because the NRD wanted me to prove that I was born here.

"I don't have other evidence to show except the birth certificate bearing only my father's name and the place of my birth," he said.

Asked where he would be putting up while waiting to get his temporary identification document, Ragu said he and his family would continue to sleep in their family car.

"I do not want to trouble anyone.

"I just need someone to help me get my MyKad."