Race: Pairin to bring up the matter in next Cabinet meet
Published on: Wednesday, January 21, 2015
Kota Kinabalu: Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan on Tuesday insisted it's just a simple crossing out and initial procedure to specify race or ethnicity in the "lain-lain" (others) column in forms, but said he will bring the matter up in the next Cabinet meeting. Not denying that such data is important for analysis and would be "good" for statistical purposes, he said the matter would not be an issue unless it has been politicised. "For me this is not a problem. Kita pun ada kebijaksanaan juga bah. We just padam itu lain-lain and put down our initials on the form. Macam juga itu agreement yang lain-lain. ADVERTISEMENT (I think we are no less clever. Just scrap 'others' and put down our initials on the form, similarly like any other agreements)," he told reporters, here. "It's only a form, but because it has been going on for years now it has become an issue… there is nothing wrong with just doing it (scrap the lain-lain and specify the race and ethnicity in the column), these forms may not spell it out for you, so you need to spell it out for them," said Pairin. Sarawak's move to include the Iban, Bidayuh and Orang Ulu ethnic groups in the race status in government forms has won supporters in Sabah with several figures and non-governmental organisations calling for the State Government to emulate the effort. They include Persatuan Kebudayaan and Kebajikan Anak Negeri Sabah (Panas), Penampang Member of Parliament Darell Leiking and also Pairin's brother, Sabah Star leader Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan. ADVERTISEMENT Last Sunday, Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr Adenan Satem was reported as saying that through efforts of Ministers from Sarawak such as Datuk Seri Douglas Uggah and Datuk Joseph Entulu Belaun, the indigenous groups were no longer "others" in the column for race in the government official forms. The Federal Government has recognised Sarawak's status classification for the three main races in Sarawak with immediate effect.
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Meanwhile, the Kadazan Dusun Cultural Association (KDCA) fully supports the call by Huguan Siou Pairin to do away with the "lain-lain" or "others" column in the race section of government forms.Senior Vice President, George Mijin said almost everybody in the Kadazandusun and Murut communities supported the call made by Pairin. He said such conclusion could be deduced from feedback and an already agitated community as a result of the thoughtless introduction of "bangsa lain-lain" in government forms a couple of years ago, leaving out the ethnic groups in Borneo, while retaining only three races – Malay, Chinese and Indian.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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According to Mijin, undoing the "lain-lain" and having the right space to stand side by side with other races in the peninsula is a due recognition to Borneo people especially the natives who formed the majority in the population."We are grateful to the Federal leadership and our leaders for having once again recognised our integral position in the Federation. Nothing is too late in doing good, and in this premise, we look forward to many more correct steps to be taken vis-a-vis Borneo unique position," he added.