I refer to the letter No set rule for ethnic markers .

The writer, Jimmy Puah, highlights how mind- boggling it is to define a race.

But I can't quite agree with his observation that 'A Chinese is a Chinese no matter what religion she subscribes to because the criteria for this ethnic group is race or common descent. The unique feature of race is that membership is based purely on biological basis hence a Vietnamese can never be a Chinese no matter how much he wants to or how much his physical appearance resembles a typical Chinese'.

I am not sure about other places but in the context of Malaysia, something peculiar that one finds is that a Chinese who is adopted into a Malay, Indian or Sikh family grows up as a Malay, Indian or Sikh and his/her race would be that of the adopted family, despite the physical appearance.

I wonder if this exists in other parts of the world.