Sabah mufti Bungsu @ Aziz Jaafar's proposal for all bumiputera Muslim Sabahans to discard their ethnic identities and be recognised as Malays in the interest of Islamic unity seems to have rubbed many the wrong way.

But in an ironic twist, the remark deemed offensive by many, has served to further unite Sabahans-Muslim or not.

NONEFrom Tuesday, Sabahans have been flooding PKR's Penampang MP Darell Leiking's (right in photo) email inbox with pictures which send the mufti this strong message: "We are our own ethnicity and we are proud of it."

In classrooms and offices, in Sabah or as far as Paris, individuals sna pictures holding up signs stating their ethnicity-some a mix of up to four different ethnicities, a product of the melting pot that is Sabah.

In one picture uploaded on Leiking's Facebook page, a family of six dressed in the traditional Malay attire baju melayu and baju kurung say: "We are Muslim... but still Dusun."

NONEAnother family said: 'We are Kadazandusun, Sino, Punjabi, Lundayeh and Filipino and we are one family.'

"Our race is permanent, it's in our blood," said a Bajau, while another spells it out: "My religion is Islam but my ethnicity is Sino-Kadazan. I'm proud to be a Sabahan."

So far, 1259 pictures have been uploaded by the MP on his Facebook page, under the campaign he dubbed 'I am _____'.

With more pictures still streaming in, Leiking told Malaysiakini he is now mulling an exhibition for the collage of pictures which he believes best reflects his home.

"I am thinking of a wall of pictures exhibited at a public place, but I will need to announce this first (to the contributors) as a matter of courtesy as some may not be comfortable having their pictures publicly exhibited (other than online)," he said.

Positive twist to negative stance

Leiking said he had started the campaign to turn negative reactions to the mufti's remarks into a positive thing.

"Other people have urged the mufti to make a retraction and apology, and I will leave this to them," he said.

NONE"Sometimes people like to wait for someone else to say something for them, but here the people are saying it for themselves, that religion is not the same with ethnicity and they are proud of their ethnicities."

Although the campaign has received much positive response, Leiking said some are worried that it is "political".

"I received a picture of some schoolchildren with their teacher, which I uploaded. Later another teacher contacted me and asked for it to be taken down for this reason.

"There is this sense of fear, but it is harmless and fun campaign and it's not political" he said.

To drive this message, the first-term MP said that he may consider approaching his BN colleagues to ask if they would participate.

"Maybe YB Bung (Moktar Radin) will participate," he said.