Dead on paper, alive in KL: Man’s 17-year fight to prove he’s no ghost in the system

KUALA LUMPUR, April 5 — For nearly two decades, Mohd Rosli Idris has lived a life few can imagine — alive in person, but officially dead on paper.

The 54-year-old has been locked out of work, aid and basic services after a bureaucratic error in 2008 mistakenly recorded him as deceased, effectively erasing his identity from Malaysia’s official system, according to Kosmo!

Rosli, who was then working as a second-hand clothing seller around Chow Kit, said the mix-up began when his former employer encountered a gravely ill man who closely resembled him.

With no identification on the man, the employer contacted Rosli’s cousin.

“With no identification on him, my employer contacted my cousin and informed him that I had died,” Rosli told the media site.

In a tragic twist, his parents travelled from Kuala Kurau to the hospital, identified the body as their son, and proceeded with the burial.

“From that moment, my ‘death’ was officially recorded, effectively erasing my identity from the national system — even though I was still alive and going about my daily life, unaware of what had happened,” he said.

The truth only surfaced six years later when Rosli returned to his hometown in 2014 — and was met with shock.

“It was night when I arrived, and the villagers were in shock. Some even ran away when they saw me.

“When I reached home, my parents were speechless. My father hugged me and broke down in tears,” he recalled.

His mother, he added, was stunned to realise the son she had buried years earlier was not him.

Despite the revelation, Rosli’s ordeal did not end there.

Attempts to obtain a new identity card from the National Registration Department have failed, as official records still list him as deceased.

Without valid identification, he has been unable to secure steady work or access assistance, surviving instead by collecting used nails and screws to sell at scrap shops.

“I didn’t mind not having an identity card before, but over time, life has become harder. It’s difficult to find work,” he said.

In a bid to reclaim his identity, Rosli lodged a police report in 2023 and another this year, hoping to prove he is still alive.

“For now, the police report is my only ‘identification’. If I am stopped, I show the report.

“Thankfully, I have not been detained so far,” he added.

For now, Rosli continues to navigate life in limbo — present in flesh, but absent in the system.