DURING my first few years of living in the Klang Valley, I frequently received questions from friends who were curious about my mixed features and ethnic heritage, including those such as “Are you an Indonesian Chinese?” or “Are you Chinese?”.

As a Sino-Native, I tried to explain to them that I come from a community formed through mixed marriages between ethnic Chinese and indigenous peoples. Most of the time, I was met with blank looks.

It was through this that I came to realise what little grasp the general public has over concepts of ethnicity in Malaysia, especially ethnic communities in East Malaysia. To give an example, most of my friends had assumed that native communities in East Malaysia is same as Orang Asli in Peninsular Malaysia.

Ethnic identities

In Sabah, there are over 30 types of native communities, including the Sino Native group. The first use of this term can be traced back to the 1950s, when Sabah (then known as ‘North Borneo’) was still under British colonial rule.  In the 1951 census records, ‘Sino Native’ was introduced as a label to describe a “new category” of people born from mixed marriages between Chinese immigrants and Sabah natives. At the time, 6,468 people were classified under this category. 

Last year, a survey on Singaporean perceptions of ethnic identities carried out by researchers based in the National University of Singapore  found that respondents associated the concept with reading, writing and speaking ability in an ethnic language and celebrating festivals unique to a particular community.

In short, ethnic identity is based on one’s mother tongue proficiency and the action of partaking in cultural celebrations. For example, those who speak Mandarin and celebrate the Chinese Lunar new year will be recognised as Chinese. 

Under Sabah state law, the Interpretation (Definition of Native) Ordinance 1952 defines a native as ‘any person whose parents are or were members of a people indigenous to Sabah’ or ‘any person ordinarily resident in Sabah and being and living as a member of a native community, one at least of whose parents or ancestors is or was an indigenous native. 

One community, many cultures

The practice of dual traditional cultures is a unique feature of most hybrid communities and represents a harmonious blend of cultures within an ethic group.  In fact, going further, some Sino Natives do not only celebrate Chinese New Year and Harvest Festival, those who are Christians will celebrate Christmas as well!

Such practices may be traced back to the early 19^th century, when Chinese immigrants in Sabah (North Borneo) who had embraced Catholicism would celebrate the Lunar New Year in church by attending mass on first day of Chinese New Year. Instead of religious decorations, churches would typically be decked with Chinese New Year items. Today, this custom is a staple norm reflecting the harmony between religious, ethnic and traditional cultural practises in East Malaysia.  

Corruption and theft of the Sino native identity

Aside from inheriting a unique blend of cultures, the other ‘advantage’ of being a Sino native in Malaysia is the ownership of native customary rights. 

These rights are embodied in the Federal Constitution and grant natives special privileges in property, land, education and business.

Under the Constitution, these privileges are also extended to the offspring of mixed marriages, i.e. native-to-non native (such as the hybrid Sino native identity) In other words, so long as one of your parents or grandparents is a native, you are entitled to claim special privileges.

In Sabah, the government officially recognises native status through a document known as the Native Certificate (Sijil Anak Negeri). These certificates are issued by the Native Courts and are conferred to the individual once his or her lineage has been verified and their application validated by a village head.

While it was once a good system, over the years, due to multiple cases of abuse and ‘identity theft’, whereby unscrupulous parties would use bribery or other illegal means to obtain a native certificate in order to procure native land rights, the credibility and legitimacy of holding a Native Certificate is now in a fragile state.

Though state government froze the issuance of the certificate to curb such abuse, the problem of legitimacy still persists, making it difficult to tell the ‘real’ native apart from the fake.

But in this day and age, is it still necessary or relevant for natives, including Sino Natives, to possess a native certificate in order to claim their ancestral rights?

Personally I feel that it is not necessary. Instead of relying solely on Native certificates to identify natives, we could use other government-issued, certified documents. For example, Section 2, (1)(b)(1) of the Native Ordinance describes the Sino Native as ‘one at least of whose parents or ancestors is or was a native’. Since evidence of parental lineage already exists in our birth certificates, why don’t we use these to identify natives? The successful application by a group of Sino Natives to own ASB accounts (Amanah Saham Bumiputera) has already shown this is a workable option.

The other issue that needs to be urgently addressed is the non-recognition of natives in official government forms.

To this day, the government still has not taken any action on this oversight. This is a shame. Surely natives, Sino-Native and other hybrid communities should have a place in Malaysia’s multi-layered fabric of identity, beside the other ethnic groups.

The government should undertake a legislative reform to give due recognition to these varied native categories in line with the Constitution, and the exercise should be underpinned by transparent and publicly accountable processes.

If leaders were to make better effort to understand the unique cultural dynamics in Sabah and Sarawak, it would surely help move our nation towards becoming the 1Malaysia that it aspires to become. – March 4, 2018.

* Esther Sinirisan Chong is a member of Agora Society. She was born and raised in the Land Below the Wind. Her research interest lies in education and government policies, and the history and heritage of East Malaysia.

* 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.