My Say:
When I completed my Form Five in 1972, I got hold of several application forms for jobs in the public sector. Completing to fill all the particulars, there was a column for Race in which Malay, Chinese, Indian were indicated. I am a Kadazan and to fill up the form, I had to mark at a column `Others/Lain Lain'. Later in life I realised that the ethnic groups in Sabah and Sarawak are being categorised as `Others/Lain Lain.' Although these were not intended to offend anybody, it has to be corrected which is the hope of all those affected in celebrating 50th Years of Kemerdekaan on Aug 31 and 44th years of Hari Malaysia on Sept 16.
Hope that Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Tan Sri Bernard Giluk Dompok pursue to deal on this matter in the Federal Cabinet. Dompok spoke on this issue recently which prompted Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak to say that any effort to come up with a clear reference to ethnic groups in Sabah and Sarawak lies in the hand of the Federal Cabinet Ministers.
Well, Dompok is a member of the Cabinet, the ball is at his feet now. I would not want my generation's race to be still categorised as `Lain Lain.'
3 comments:
This whole bangsa2 lain is indeed an irritant. I've had to face the fact that I was somehow "different" since I was a child.
if translated in kadazandusun language, the "bangsa lain-lain" is "bansa do suai suai", which has a negative undertone...
I can understand people's feeling although I'm not in that category, but I absolutely happy to see you put it 'in celebrating 50th Years of Kemerdekaan on Aug 31 and 44th years of Hari Malaysia on Sept 16', which is another matter that I sincerely hopo Dompok can bring it up in the Federal Cabinet!
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