In Malaysia, parents of bi-racial children are forced to register their children according to the father's ethnicity.
Those with a Malay parent are automatically registered as Malay at birth, erasing all traces of bi-racial existence in the official papers.
This practice has somewhat resulted in the term "masuk Melayu" (to become Malay), bandied about when someone embraces Islam and marries a Malay.
Once a popular term, the notion is fast becoming outdated with many who embrace Islam proving it is possible for their culture, heritage and new faith to co-exist.
And while their children's multi-ethnic heritage seem lost in official documents, they remain an important part of the families' daily lives.
Here, a Chinese man talks about his Malay children and how they celebrate bi-racial identity:
I converted to Islam one year before marrying my Malay wife in 1988. We were working at a factory in Muar, Johor, before moving to KL a long time ago.
I have three kids now who look more Chinese than Malay - and wherever they go, shops or schools, people will think they are Chinese - and they can speak Chinese.
They all eat halal food, and they all can speak both Mandarin and Malay, and my youngest child, he can speak Tamil!
At the mamak restaurant in Brickfields, the Indian guy was confused - "How can a Chinese person speak Tamil?"
At first my wife didn't want all the kids to go to a Chinese school. She said: "It's okay lah, how about two kids go to a Chinese school and the other one to a national school?"
And I said: "No cannot, I want them all to go to a Chinese school." And they all did.
Now while I'm reading an English newspaper, my kids are reading Chinese newspapers like Sin Chew and Oriental Daily.
This story was first published on the HUMANS OF KUALA LUMPUR Facebook page. In this photography project, Mushamir Mustafa takes pictures of random people in Kuala Lumpur, who share with him a story from their lives. It features on Malaysiakini every weekend.
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