KOTA KINABALU: Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan wants Sabahans to specify their ethnicity when filling forms which carry the “Lain lain” (others) in the race column.
“There is no need to talk anymore. We should just scrap the Lain lain phrase and replace it with our respective race or ethnic group. Just do that,” said Pairin, the Huguan Siou or Kadazandusun community’s paramount leader.
(Government forms carry the words Malay, Chinese, Indian and Lain lain categories for applicants to fill in.)
Pairin, who is Deputy Chief Minister, said ethnic communities would also be assisting the authorities in data collection efforts by specifying their race in the government forms.
He was commenting on the Sarawak government’s move of specifying ethnicities in official forms with immediate effect.
Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Adenan Satem said those from indigenous communities such as the Iban, Bidayuh, Melanau could now specify their race in such documents.
Bingkor assemblyman Datuk Dr Jeffery Kitingan said the doing away of the Lain lain category was long overdue.
Jeffrey, the younger brother of Pairin, said the Sabah government should emulate Sarawak’s move and scrap the the Lain lain category in official forms. Ruben Sario The STAR Home News Nation 19 Jan 2015