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MIRI – Sarawak-born residents of Chinese and Indian ethnicity should be categorised as natives of the state, and the corresponding bill tabled at the state assembly, said Miri MP Dr Micheal Teo.
"Yesterday, the state assembly passed a bill to recognise children from mixed marriages, involving parents who are Sarawak natives, as Sarawak natives as well.
“The representatives in the state assembly now should immediately draft a bill to also categorise Sarawak-born Chinese and Indians as Sarawak natives too.
“Many of the Chinese and Indians in Sarawak were born here in this state decades ago. They too are natives of this state from a legal perspective.
“They deserve to be accorded the rights of natives in Sarawak, such as entitlement to the 5% discount for property purchase,” he told The Vibes today.
Dr Teo said the state government must consider everyone born in Sarawak as its native residents.
Other opposition parties such as Sarawak DAP and Parti Bersatu Sarawak also expressed similar sentiments.
State DAP chairman Chong Chieng Jen said in a press statement that he tried to raise the matter in the current assembly sitting but had his motion rejected.
“The state government must give official native status to the Chinese and Indians born in Sarawak too so that they can enjoy the privileges of bumiputeras,” said Chong, who is the Padungan assemblyman.
PSB assemblyman for Batu Lintang See Chee How said PSB also wants to see those from Chinese and Indian families born in Sarawak given native status.
“By natural definition, all those born in Sarawak are natives of Sarawak.
“The state government must legally accord this,” he said in a press statement. – The Vibes, February 16, 2022