PETALING JAYA: Children of local Malay Muslims married to Muslim foreigners can be registered as Malays, the Dewan Rakyat was told.
"(Alternatively), the children can be registered according to the foreign parent's ancestry," home minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said in a written parliamentary reply.
Saifuddin was responding to a question from Pang Hok Liong (PH-Labis), who asked whether foreigners married to Malay Muslims could be considered Bumiputeras and enjoy the associated rights and privileges.
Saifuddin said marrying a Malay Muslim would not automatically make the foreign spouse a Malay.
He also said the national registration department had no authority to determine whether a person qualified as a Bumiputera or was entitled to the rights and privileges provided for under the Federal Constitution.
Under the constitution, a Malay is defined as someone who professes Islam, habitually speaks the Malay language, conforms to Malay customs, and meets the relevant constitutional criteria concerning birth or residence in the Federation before Merdeka Day.