Mixed race: Where do we draw the line?

Malaysiakini Your Say | Jun 2, 11

‘We have one rule for some people, another rule for others, while Muslims seem to get the best deal as no matter what the situation, they still be bumiputera.’

Students of mixed parentage denied varsity admission

Borneo Son: Every deserving Malaysian should be given admission to university and/or scholarship regardless of ethnic/religious background if Malaysia is to become a progressive nation.

As Malaysia is mainly a paternal/patrimonial/patrilineal society, if a child’s father is bumiputera, then the child should be classified a bumiputera without question.

The Sarawak state constitution does not recognise someone of mixed parentage as a bumiputera if the father is non-native. This has been the practice since the days of the Brookes. Mixed marriages, though not unusual, are not that common. It is not an issue if the father is a native because the child will bear an indigenous name.

However, the Sabah state constitution grants native status to children of mixed marriages as long as a parent or grandparent belongs to one of the listed native groups. If this is not the case, the number of bumiputeras in the state would be reduced significantly because there are not many ‘pure’ native Sabahans.

Alsatian: Unfortunately for Sarawakians, we always get the short end of the stick. For a Chinese father and native mother, their children are categorised as non-bumiputera.

But take the case of Dr Mahathir Mohamad, the ex-PM: his father is Indian, his mother is Malay, so he is bumiputera. He married a Malay girl, all his children are regarded as bumiputera.

Abdul Taib Mahmud, the Sarawak CM, is another example. He is a Melanau, his wife was Australian-Polish, all his children are bumiputera.

We have one rule for some people, another rule for others, while Muslims seem to get the best deal, as no matter what the mixture, they still become bumiputera. The worst deal is reserved for non-Muslim Sarawakians.

Ben Hor: I hate to say this but if the child’s religion is Islam, they will automatically qualified to be ‘bumiputera’ and will have not problems receiving a scholarship. I’ve a friend of mixed parentage (Malay-Chinese), Muslim of course, who claimed himself as a ‘bumiputera’ and had no problems receiving a scholarship.

P Dev Anand Pillai: PM Najib Razak’s fake 1Malaysia campaign is nothing but plain rubbish as civil servants do not care two hoots about his directive or the government policy. They craft their own policies with the tacit approval of certain people higher up and ensure that the non-bumiputera and non-Malays are kept at bay at every level.

The Talent Corp and the drive to get back those Malaysians who have excelled in their chosen fields and have left for better lives overseas is going to be a futile task. They may have an affinity with the country but it is only to visit, not to contribute, because no matter what you do, it does not count if one is not a Malay and Muslim.

Faz: Sad but it is a reality at present. It is the responsibility of the government to provide places for higher education to all deserving Malaysians who want to pursue further study, regardless. Build more public universities by cutting off allocations to unworthy causes such as PLKN or Permata.

The quota system for university admissions should be done away with and a merit system put in place. Weaker portions of the communities could be helped in other ways in term of placement or finance.

Is it too troublesome or costly to create more public universities in Malaysia? Plug the corruption, sweetheart deals and leakages and we shall have enough funds to build a university in every major town in Malaysia. Then we can talk about Malaysia being a hub for world-class education.

Sarajun Hoda: This is double standards. Yesterday at one Jabatan Pendaftaran Negara office, I saw a MyKad certificate for an Indonesian born in Kajang Hospital on Nov 9, 1996, to a permanent resident (not citizen).

The record of the mother has only name, agama Islam and address in Indonesia. No IC or passport number, no date of birth, no age, no address in Malaysia – everything was written as ‘maklumat tidak diperolehi’ (information not obtained).

Another case, I saw one who brought his son to register for a MyKad using an Indonesian passport. I overheard officers asking, ‘Bila tiba Malaysia?’ (When did you arrive in Malaysia). What’s happening?

ONG: This bumiputera nonsense is causing many Malaysians to lose their dignity. To my mind, people who claim bumiputera status for the purpose of claiming special rights have no dignity. These people should be fighting for their rights as equal citizens of Malaysia, not to be a special class of citizens.

They should be fighting their rejection by local universities based on their excellent academic results, not because they believe they are bumiputeras. Shame on them, irrespective of whether they are Muslim or non-Muslim bumiputera wannabes.

Fairplayer: ONG, we are talking about bumi students who scored excellent results but are deprived of scholarships and denied entry to tertiary institutions by the government classifying them as non-bumi.

We are not talking about demanding bumi rights to scholarships or entry to universities the way Gaps are demanding. But yes, I fully agree that admission to universities should be on merit, and not on ethnicity.

Kgen: We should be ashamed of this country for discriminating by race in the provision of education opportunities. We must be the only country in the world with universities and colleges reserved exclusively for one race.

Even matriculation opportunities are offered only to bumi with a token 10 percent for other races. South Africa gave up apartheid 21 years ago. When are we going to dismantle our version of apartheid?

Clearwater: This is discrimination biting you back in the ass. Some racial mixes have always been considered more ‘bumiputera’ than others in Malaysia. Just as some bumiputeras are more equal than others.

Forget your classification. Unless you are poor and have no other choice, you should not accept anything that reeks of entitlement. Compete on merit. Hold your head up high. Keep your backbone straight. Don’t accept a crutch.