UPDATED KUALA LUMPUR: The Education Ministry is unaware that the race of indigenous children has been changed to Malay in their school report cards.
Deputy Education Minister Wee Ka Siong told FMT this was the first time he had heard of it.
He said the fault did not rest with his ministry, but the National Registration Department (NRD).
"It could not have happened under our education system, because the ministry follows the child's birth certificate,” he said.
“Any correction to this (a child's racial origin) must be done with the NRD, not us. This has nothing to do with the ministry. We have no right to say if you're Malay or Chinese. We've no right.
“As far as I know, a child is registered based on the birth certificate, which is downloaded, or based on the system,” he added.
Wee was commenting on a FMT report that native Sarawakian children were classified as Malays in their school report cards.
Sarawak PKR chief Baru Bian, who raised the issue, said these children were identified as "lain-lain" in the past.
One parent even told Bian that the status of his child could not be changed back as it was already set in the system.
Wee also said that it was possible that the information in the report cards was not official and that it could have been changed.
"The report card is not an official document, it is a book... So you can change it, but I think it's more to do with amending the information,” he said.
Sarawak Dayak Iban Association livid
Meanwhile, the Sarawak Dayak Iban Association (Sadia) said the act of altering the children's race was "unconstitutional and wrong".
Taking the Education Ministry to task, Sadia president Sidi Munan said: "The ministry should know about the implications of such an act. This is a sensitive issue and affects us.”
"They should just go back to the constitution. It clearly defines the natives of Sarawak," he added.
Expressing puzzlement over the matter, Sidi said he did not understand why this was being done.
"Have they misunderstood... are they thinking that ‘Keturunan Melayu’ is the same as the Malay stock?
“But that is not what we are talking about here. This document (report card) has nothing to do with anthropological definition of ‘Keturunan n Melayu’. It does not make sense,” he said.
“If he is Kelabit call him Kelabit. If he is Iban call him Iban (Sea Dayak), Bidayuh (Land Dayak), and so on. The word of the constitution is law. It is the supreme law of the land. How can you go against it?” he asked.
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