The life of a 28-year-old Indian-origin men living in Malaysia has been agonised just because he has a Chinese name.

Hawker Philip Choong Kim Hoong is unable to get a driving licence, could not open a bank account for the past 16 years and he can't even marry his girlfriend due to this confusion.

Choong said he was adopted at birth and his original birth certificate contained details of his adoptive parents.

But when he applied for MyKad at the age of 12, Malaysia's National Registration Department seized his birth certificate.

"A department officer told me that my birth certificate contained false information. After confiscating my birth certificate, the department gave me another copy but without any details of my adoptive parents," The Star Online quoted him, as saying.

"They did not even give me instructions on what I should do after that," he added.

Choong, who went to the department countless times to appeal and seek help but to no avail, is forced to accept meagre wages from employers due to identity crisis.

"They (officers) told me that's the way it was and that I should just accept it. I cannot even marry my girlfriend," he said. (ANI)