Erase race category, say many

PETALING JAYA: The call to remove the ethnicity (“race”) category from forms has received support but most said it has to be carried out gradually.

Many quarters said the matter should be looked at realistically and some questioned how any review should be done.

Malaysian Employers Federation executive director Shamsuddin Bardan lauded the call, saying it was in the right direction towards achieving the 1Malaysia vision.

He said a gradual review was needed because change was never easy to implement.

“It needs to be done gradually so people have time to get used to it,” he said, adding that it was natural for people to initially have different or opposing views.

“We are living in one nation. So long as we are divided along racial line, we will not fully achieve the 1Malaysia aspiration.”

Yayasan 1Malaysia on Wednesday had called for the removal of the ethnicity (“race”) category on some forms issued by the public and private sectors.

Board of trustees member Datuk Dr Ismail Ibrahim said the foundation’s call to remove the category should not be politicised.

“We want to aim for people to focus more on being Malaysian and less on ethnicity.

“Hopefully, they will realise this is a way to unite the nation,” he said.

He said it was all right for certain forms to retain the race category such as in the education field.

“If there is a quota system in place for universities then it is fine as the Government will need to know how many students from each race get a place,” he said.

Another board of trustees member Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye said a gradual review was needed by various agencies, authorities and departments to determine whether it was necessary for them to insist on having the category.

Lee said the existence of the race category was a continuous reminder for Malaysians to identify with their own race instead of nationality.

MCA vice-president Senator Gan Ping Sieu said the category should be gradually abolished.

Gan reasoned that since Malaysian passports did not state one’s race, the requirement should be done away with for other official documents.

He added that birth certificates could keep the field for race as it was for national statistics re- cords.

Kita president Datuk Zaid Ibrahim commended Yayasan 1Malaysia’s call but said it would just remain a “good idea” as long as the current quota and entitlement systems based on race were still in place.

Suaram chairman K. Arumugam said it needed to go with constitutional amendments.

Warm Regard, Sara Pandian