YOURSAY ‘ I don't see any forms asking for my race in all those countries I have visited.’

Najib says minister wrong, 'race' to stay in forms

SteveOh: How do other countries collect statistical data? I don't see any government form ask for my race in all those countries I have visited.

Yet they publish accurate and useful statistics available to the public. And they are all developed countries.

Don't cabinet meetings keep minutes? How can Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Joseph Entulu Belaun get it wrong? Or is he just the fall guy?

Show me the minutes and I may believe he made the mistake.

Anonymous #44199885: After 57 years of independence, the government should ensure social justice by ensuring the distribution of wealth and opportunities based on needs and not race.

There is nothing wrong with what Joseph Entulu has said and I don’t see why he should apologise to anyone, most of all to extremist Malay rights group Perkasa and their ilk.

I don’t see Umno ministers apologising for all their racist comments, religious bigotry and uncouth conduct.

I also note that Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak seems to move at lighting speed over a small matter as to the contents of forms, but remained silent and does nothing about racists and religious bigots hurling unwarranted abuse and scandalous remarks and made-up allegations at non-Malays and non-Muslims.                      

ACR: You don’t need race identification to monitor the progress of every community. All you need is income and regional (geographical) statistics to establish where poorer sections of the populace live and how poor they are on a relative basis which would aid the government in its policy making.

Onyourtoes: I don’t see what the big deal is to retain or not to retain the race column in official forms.

For statistical purposes, I think it is perfectly alright to gather information based on race to see how each community is doing vis-à-vis a particular policy of the government or its implementation.

The most important element in government policy is the spirit of intent - whether to exercise fairness or aiming at discriminating or marginalising others. Eliminating the race column without the political will and right policy intent is in fact counterproductive.

It is now possible for the government to discriminate blatantly without providing explanation by citing the lack of information on race since it has been eliminated from the form.

Don’t be so naive; do we really need to fill up “Malay”, “Chinese”, “Indian” or “Iban” to know who we really are? Removing “race” from the form is just a red herring.

MA: Yes, I finally get to know Najib is well and kicking. Didn't hear him for sometime now, especially recently when some stupid religious zealots were spewing nonsensical statements.

Visu: These guys in Umno are purposefully raising these issues to divide the Malaysian community along communal lines so as to unite the Malays.

The Malays are the most fractured lot today all because of Umno's policies that encourage corruption to enrich a few at the expense of many.

I believe that international public relations agencies are involved in this grand design to instill fear into Malays and then communalise them into unifying under Umno as the saviour.

Ace: Najib is really showing his true colours. This fake moderate and fake 1Malaysia PM is good at lip service only. How disappointing to the genuine moderates and those who yearn for the real 1Malaysia.

Perkasa may sue gov't if 'race' dropped in forms

RR: Perkasa president Ibrahim Ali, the world is becoming smaller and smaller. There is no race in its original form now.

In Malaysia, more than 75 percent of the so-called Malays are a mixed lot. There are also Indonesians, Indians, Pakistanis, Chinese, Arab and now Bangladeshis masquerading as Malays to obtain bumiputera status for economic benefits.

If this government really wants to be fair to all then it should have four categories - 1. High income, 2. Upper-middle income, 3. Lower-middle Income, and 4. Poor.

The New Economic Policy (NEP) of the government should address these categories fairly if we want to see a progressive Malaysia. Period.

What the ........!: As long as race is mandatory in forms, Malaysia will always remain a country that practises racial discrimination, or rather, as it is often referred to as affirmative action.

But affirmative action is normally for the minority, not the majority. While other countries help the minority, Malaysia helps the majority and discriminates against the minority.

Quigonbond: Anything Perkasa rejects must be good for the country. I support the removal of the "race" category in all government forms. If the government wants statistics, they should use another independent department to get it so as to preserve the integrity of the data against abuse, such as racial profiling and policy segregation.

Spinnot: In the peninsula, by just looking at the name you can tell whether a person is Malay, Chinese or Indian.

In Sabah and Sarawak, there are many Muslims (and even some non-Muslims) who are not Malays but have Muslim names. I think Ibrahim does not want them to be mistaken as Malays.

Spartacus: The government is giving funds to Perkasa and now Perkasa is using those funds to sue the government?

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