KUALA LUMPUR: Marriage between a foreign national of the Islamic faith and a Malaysian citizen of Malay descent does not change the foreign national’s ethnicity to Malay, said Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.
He emphasised that the individual’s ethnicity remains based on their original descent, and the National Registration Department (JPN) will not determine an ethnicity change for the foreign national.
“This matter was clearly stated in my written reply in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday. However, there are a handful of reports using headlines that could cause misunderstandings and give a misleading impression to the public,” he said in a Facebook post today.
Accordingly, Saifuddin Nasution also shared a copy of the question and the full answer regarding the issue to enable the public to make accurate references and examinations.
He also urged the public not to easily make conclusions based solely on news headlines, but instead to check the facts and understand the actual context before sharing any information.
“Check the facts, understand the real context, and share accurate information so that we do not become part of the spread of misleading information,” he said.
Saifuddin Nasution stated in a written reply in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday that the marriage of a Muslim foreign national to a Muslim Malay in the country will not change their original ethnic status.
However, he informed that if a child is born from a legally recognised marriage under Malaysian law between a Muslim foreign national and a Malaysian citizen of Malay descent, the child’s mother or father can choose whether the child is registered according to the mother’s or father’s ethnicity.
The Home Minister was answering a question from Pang Hok Liong (PH-Labis) regarding whether a Muslim foreign national who marries a Malaysian citizen of Malay ethnicity can be considered a Bumiputera.
Pang also asked whether they are eligible or not to enjoy the rights or privileges granted to Bumiputeras, as well as the conditions that must be met to obtain such eligibility.