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NRD, what about the 'human' race?
Published:  Jun 9, 2011 7:52 AM
Updated: Jun 9, 2011 12:30 PM

your say 'Is Malaysia the only country in the world that would rather have its people remain as a collection of races instead of coming together as one people?'

Lawmaker fails to register child as 'anak Malaysia'

Md Imraz Muhammed Ikhbal: Let's put things into proper perspective now, shall we? The sole purpose of any detail in any identification card or document is precisely in the very definition of the English word - ‘identification'.

This is none other than to identify and describe the subject in its relevant form and this has to serve an intended purpose, not merely arbitrary. In the world we live in today, it is imperative that we identify and distinguish between male and female, hence the need to specify gender.

Likewise, the age of a person, hence the need to stipulate date of birth. Religion is another important form of identification as it determines the acknowledgment and specific respect the bearer is to be accorded with.

I can even understand the need to specify hair, eye or skin colour for identification purposes but why would any government have to classify the citizens by race? With mixed parentage these days, how then is race by any means an effective measure of identification other than obvious discrimination?

Phoenix Star 88: Subang Jaya assemblyperson Hannah Yeoh, while I admire your idealism, I think you need to realise that race and nationality are two different things altogether and they can co-exist.

Malaysians are not prepared to cut all ties to their respective ethnicities. Being Chinese, Indian or Malay is still a huge part of our identities as individuals although we are also proudly Malaysian at the same time.

Please register your child's race under the race of her father, which is the norm for Chindians. She does not have to hide her ancestry to be more Malaysian.

Lover Boy: ‘Anak Malaysia' is not a race. The parents are Chinese-Indian mix, and the child carries an Indian name. It is only correct that the child, even for convenient sake, be an Indian.

I know that some of you may recall in the 70s, there is an identification call ‘others'. Those Eurasian and Portuguese comes under this category. So may I ask if they can accept Eurasian as a race, why can't we accept Chindian as a race?

Paul Warren: Yeoh, my kids are in the same category as yours. About 17 to 20 years ago, they took on the father's race. But I should have had their name as ‘xxx Tan xxx' with Indian for race. I did not.

Unfortunately if the system is such, until it is changed, you can't do anything about it. So hang on in there. Let your kid too contribute to the confusion. Indian name but Chinese race.

Pandoran: Would Yeoh have requested to register the new born as ‘anak Malaysia' if she wasn't married to an Indian Malaysian and instead married to someone who is Chinese Malaysian?

Just a thought, but it would be nice for NRD (National Registration Department) to give an option to parents who would like race of their child to be automatically registered as ‘anak Malaysia'.

Vijay47: By convention, a child carries the father's name. But this practice is not set down by God on high nor cast in stone. Every society, every generation, each family, may wish to bring changes, simple as they may be, to how their beliefs are reflected.

Many who comment here seem to have missed the bigger picture - the inability of the proud parents to announce to the world that their precious baby Shay Adora Ram is not Indian or Chinese, but a Malaysian baby. Instead, this bold stand of the parents to state the child's race as that of the mother's has been vilified as a sign of cowardice, subjugation and betrayal.

Lest we forget, the parents of the child are one Hannah Yeoh and Ramachandran Muniandy. Leave them be to name the baby as they desire, Meenachi, Ah Mooi, or Zaria.

All I can say, Adora Ram, is that I pray God watches over and blesses you, and that one day, when perhaps I am long gone, my grandchild sees you as a leader of a Malaysia where race and religion no longer matter.

Anonymous_5fb: The fact is that, the baby is neither Indian nor Chinese. That maybe one of the reasons why both Hannah Yeoh and husband decided to register their baby as 'Anak Malaysia', which in every sense of the word, correct.

But, due to rigidity of the man-made system, by hook or by crook, a race need to be stated in the registration form, and they decided to put 'Chinese' as the race. If the father agreed to it, what's the problem with some of you here?

Don't just assume that the baby must follow the father's race or even the father's religion (if both are of different faiths), the parents have their right to decide on this matter.

Dood: I think some of the commenters here need to go for race and sex sensitivity training. The irony is that these same people, who cry out condemning the couple for letting the "Indian man" be "dominated" by his "Chinese wife", would probably have no qualms condemning Umno/BN leaders for racist policies and sexist remarks.

Perhaps these people should take a good look in the mirror and realise that the fight against racism and sexist begins within themselves, and there is no room for double standards.

At the end of the day, neither Umno/BN nor some stupid bureaucratic rubbish can take away a Malaysian's right to consider himself a Malaysian. I consider myself Malaysian and that's that..

Enough Said: How about ‘human' as race? Anything wrong with that?

Keturunan Malaysia: A journey of a 1,000 miles begin with the first step. What prevent the couple from getting what they want is man-made, and what is man-made can be man-unmade.

Trying is one thing and succeeding in getting it is another. They are trying, the first time for them, and perhaps for and on behalf of many others in the future too.

Rakyat Malaysia: I don't understand why until now we still have to be defined by race. What is the fuss with race anyway? How will race information benefit the policies in the long-run except for systematic discrimination.

Recently the Education Ministry sent out a form asking lecturers in colleges and public institution to fill up a form. The form ask the lecturer to fill in the following: select either (i) bumi (ii) non-bumi. Next, there is a list of race (Chinese, Indian, Malay, Orang Asli, etc).

I don't understand where the Education Ministry is going with this thing. Tell me.

Anonymous: Is Malaysia the only country in the world that would rather have its people remains as a collection of races instead of coming together as one people?

Come to think of it that is how BN rules this country, by dividing the country into a collection of races and making them fight while they reap the benefit.

Kuduka: If I have a baby, I will do the same. I have read a report many years ago about a Canadian mother register her child as Canadian, and it was accepted, and from that day on, race in birth certificate is no longer important in Canada.

Why not Malaysian registered themselves as Malaysian? Yeoh is one brave Malaysian mother, and you wake up all Malaysians.

 


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