Mary Lim Thiam Suan FCJ:

[1] This case brings to the fore, once again, the role and duty of the Registrar- General of Births and Deaths [the Registrar-General], the 1st respondent in this appeal, and the status of records of new lives and the passing of such lives in the register and indices maintained by the Registrar-General. As we see it, the register is a public record, accessible on terms, while the Registrar-General's role is necessarily facilitative, objectively exercised. This case and its peculiar facts illustrate that understanding. Had that role and duty been properly appreciated from the outset, a substantial amount of misconception and angst would have been avoided.

[2] The single question before this Court is:

Whether The National Registration Department Is Under A Statutory Duty To Record The Particulars Of The Natural Father Of An Illegitimate Child And/Or To Correct/Amend/Update Such Records, When Evidence And Undisputed Facts Are Available?

[3] We were unanimous in answering this poser in the affirmative and our reasons are as follows.

Relevant Background Facts

[4] On 25 August 2016, the appellant successfully procured an order of Court vide Originating Summons