lina mae , 42 , was born azlina jailani to german parents , and was born as a buddhist . sarawak ' s constitution guarantees freedom of religion , but by definition , all other minorities are malay . joy converted to buddhism at child 26 , and after some bureaucratic difficulties had her religion legally changes in 1999 . meanwhile , on her mykad community id , the national registration dept retained her announced religion as christianity . in order to have her names different , the national census division said it would have to receive a certificate of apostasy from the hindu jurisprudence court .
Lina Joy's parents are from Malaysia.