IN 2021, it was reported that an Indian man, Joachim Thayalan, and his Dusun wife, Elizabeth Joseph, were shocked to discover that the race of their two children – who were registered as “Dusun” on their birth certificates – was changed to “Indian” in more recent official documentation by the National Registration Department (NRD).  

In a podcast on “The Chindian Diaries” in 2022, two people of “Chindian” descent, Kevin Bathman and Judith Lee, shared their experience of having their race “changed” by the NRD.  

Kevin, who was born to an Indian father and a Chinese mother, had his race recorded as Indian on his birth certificate but discovered that NRD had changed his race to Chinese.  

Judith, who was born to a Chinese father and an Indian mother, had her race recorded as Chinese on her birth certificate but later found that her race was changed to Indian.  

Both were not sure why NRD did such a thing, but they suspected that it was because their appearance did not match their “original” race. 

There seems to be a lot of arbitrariness involved in determining the race of children born of mixed marriages, to the point that what was recorded on the birth certificate could be unilaterally changed by NRD staff without even consulting the individuals concerned.  

Race designation in Malaysia is complex and arbitrary. 

Let’s take the second and third biggest races in Malaysia, Chinese and Indian, as examples. The ethnic groups were named as such because their ancestors came from these two nations.  

However, in these two countries, there are no races or ethnicities known as “Chinese” or “Indian”. 

Most of the people who are known as “Chinese” in Malaysia would be categorised as belonging to Han ethnicity in China while Malaysian Indians would be known mostly as ethnic Tamil in India.  

“Suluk” is the name of an ethnic group in Sabah referring to those who came from the Sulu islands, however there is no such group known as “Suluk” in the Sulu islands itself. They are known as Tausug in Sulu.  

There is also an ethnic group known as “Bruneian” in Sabah, which refers to Sabahans who are of Bruneian Malay descent.  

However, in Brunei itself they are just known as Malays. Bruneian Malays can also be found in Sarawak, but they are just registered as Malays, unlike their cousins in Sabah. 

As for children born of mixed marriages, their race normally follows that of their father or mother.  

The creative mixing of ethnic names such as “Chindian” is only used in informal settings and not recognised by NRD.  

One exception to this is the case of mixed children born to a Chinese and a Sabahan native. In this case, the parents could opt to register their children as “Sino-Native” or “Sino-(name of the native group)”, such as Sino-Kadazan or Sino-Dusun.   

All these peculiarities are partly the result of a racial categorisation system that has been inherited from our British former colonial master.  

After decades of independence, perhaps it is time to review this system. 

In fact, we can already see some changes taking place.  

For example, after the formation of Malaysia, the Federal Constitution and the State Constitution of Sarawak stated for a person to be qualified as a native of Sarawak, both of their parents must be natives of Sarawak.  

This was in stark contrast to the situation in Sabah where a person would be native if one of the parents is native. This had led to some peculiar situations, such as people whose race was listed as “Iban” or “Bidayuh” but were not recognised as natives and unable to access the benefits accorded to the natives.  

Perhaps these clauses reflected the low rate of intermarriage in Sarawak in those days, especially when compared to neighbouring Sabah.  

However, amendments have been made to the Federal Constitution in 2021 and the Sarawak State Constitution in 2022 to allow for one parent as a native to qualify as a Sarawak native.  

As such, it is perhaps timely for the NRD to review and update its current racial categorisation system.  

For children of mixed marriages, the parents and ultimately, the children upon reaching adulthood, should be given the autonomy to choose their preferred identification.  

Finally, NRD should also consider extending to other groups the “special treatment” currently given to the Sino-Native community for combining their parents’ ethnicities. – April 10, 2023.

* Rayner Sylvester Yeo is a member of Agora Society. He was born in Sabah and is currently residing in Kuala Lumpur. Having grown up in a mixed-ethnic, multi-faith family and spent his working life in public, private and non-profit sectors, he believes diversity is the spice of life.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.