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So, apparently, marrying a Malay Muslim does not automatically make a foreign spouse Malay. But their children? Well, they can be registered as Malays.
This was what Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail told the Dewan Rakyat in a written parliamentary reply, responding to Labis MP Pang Hok Liong, who asked whether foreigners married to Malay Muslims could be considered Bumiputeras and enjoy the associated rights and privileges.
According to the minister, the children can be registered as Malays or according to the foreign parent's ancestry. He also clarified that the National Registration Department (NRD) has no authority to determine who qualifies as a Bumiputera.
Now, forgive me, but I thought this was common knowledge. Funny how this is being presented as a revelation in Parliament when many Malaysians have known about it for years.
A Malay Muslim can marry an Indian Muslim, and their children can still be Malays. A Malay can marry a Chinese convert, and their children can still be Malays. A Malay can even marry an African or a European, and their children can still be Malays.
Looks like Malay DNA is the most powerful DNA in the world. One marriage, and suddenly, ancestry from halfway across the globe can be wrapped in a Malay identity. Talk about a genetic superpower!
And here I was thinking that ancestry was a complicated business involving generations of family history. Apparently, when it comes to Malay identity, things can be rather flexible.
Now, the minister did say that the NRD has no authority to determine who qualifies as a Bumiputera. But let's be honest. We know that being registered as Malay generally comes with Bumiputera privileges.
I have a Chinese friend who converted to Islam to marry a Malay man, and she now enjoys the perks of ASB. So, a person of Chinese ancestry can end up enjoying privileges associated with Bumiputera status, provided they meet the relevant eligibility criteria.
Wow. What a privilege!
Then again, with all the privileges that come with being Malay, who would say no to being one?
I know plenty of Indian Muslims who make it a point to marry Malays, hoping that their future generations can enjoy the privileges associated with Malay identity. I personally call these people karuppu sootu naatu kaaren, which roughly translates to “Malays with dark backsides”.
Of course, I'm not suggesting that everyone marries for this reason. Love is love. But let's not pretend that privileges play no part in how some people think about identity, especially when those privileges can potentially benefit generations to come.
Forget investing in property. Forget unit trusts. Have you considered investing in your family tree? LOL.
And this brings me to something that has always amused me about Malaysia. We are so taksub with race. We want to know who is Malay, who is Chinese, who is Indian, who is Bumiputera, who is Lain-lain, and who qualifies for what. We draw these lines around ourselves as though humanity came neatly packaged in three or four racial categories.
Why?
Perhaps because, in Malaysia, race is not merely about culture, heritage or a sense of belonging. It can also determine access to privileges, opportunities and entitlements. When your racial identity comes with tangible benefits, suddenly, it becomes something worth protecting. Or acquiring. Or passing down to your children.
We insist on rigid racial boundaries, yet those boundaries can become surprisingly flexible when marriage, religion and constitutional definitions come into play.
So, if someone of European ancestry can have children who qualify as Malays, what exactly are we saying when we insist that race is a fixed, biological category?
One day, a Malay may not even look like what we traditionally imagine a Malay to look like today. Fair skin, a sharp nose, big eyes - all perfectly still Malay. Gone may be the days when we associate Malays with sawo matang skin, smaller noses and eyes.
Imagine that! The Malay of tomorrow could look more European than Asian, yet still be every bit as Malay under the relevant criteria.
So much for race being written in our DNA!
Perhaps Malaysians are not so much obsessed with race itself as with what race can get us.
Are we defending cultural identity, or are we defending a system of privileges attached to that identity?
If Malay identity can accommodate such diverse ancestries, why are we so determined to keep racial categories alive as the basis for distributing privileges?
Maybe the problem is not that people want to be Malay. Maybe the problem is that we have created a system in which being Malay can make such a difference.
But hey, what do I know? I'm just an Indian marvelling at the wonders of Malay DNA.
Fa Abdul (fa.abdul.penang@gmail.com) is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
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