A case of mistaken identity

Two years ago, a former security guard, Sidek Abdul Aziz, 73, of Kampung Melayu Majidee here got a shock of his life, subsequently suffered a stroke and bed-ridden when he was told by his wife that he is not able to withdraw his employee provident fund (EPF) because his name is not in the EPF contribution record.

Sidek’s wife, Faridah Basri, 66, said that now her husband is also suffering from several illnesses like high blood pressure, kidney and cataract problems and she needs the money to pay for her husband medical expenses.

She admitted that it was her husband’s mistake for using his nickname ‘Yusof’ instead of his registered name Sidek Abdul Aziz in his correspondences with the EPF office.

This is going to complicate matter as they have 3 children age in between 24-34 as beneficiaries and  they will not be able to claim the money in the event of her husband passes on, she added.

Faridah explained that her husband registered name is Sidek Abdul Aziz but since his younger days, his family addresses him by his nickname ‘Yusof’.

Over the years, the nickname got sticked with her husband and he tends to mistakenly write his own name as ‘Yusof’ even when applying for a job.

Faridah said, her husband had been to the National Registration Department (NRD) on several occasions to get the name confusion sorted out but to no avail. She also said probably her husband did not fully understand the procedures as he is illiterate and didn’t follow through with the name changing process.

Since then she has been using her name for all official correspondences including the children school enrolments.

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