Libat Langub
MIRI (April 21): There is an administrative disconnect between the federal and state authorities in the automatic recognition of the native status of children born to parents of mixed marriages between a non-native person and a native of Sarawak.
Dayak Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) secretary Libat Langub, a senior lawyer, said the National Registration Department (JPN) and the relevant state authority or ministry dealing with native matters or status should find a way to resolve the issue.
“I think the JPN issue is an administrative matter. There may be a disconnect between JPN and the state authority on the decision on native status, perhaps compounded by bureaucratic confusion of the whole matter between JPN, a federal agency, and the relevant state department,” he said.
Libat told The Borneo Post yesterday from the recent experience of retired engineer Henry Chua over the native status of his children, the authorities should resolve the obstacles faced in changing the status of Chua’s two daughters to Native.
Sino-Iban Chua, 71, was shocked when told by JPN at UTC Miri last week that his daughter Aisley, 18, who was born in Brunei while he was working there, was not eligible, while Ainsley, 21, had to apply for a change of descent in Labuan before the application could be processed.
Chua’s Sino-Iban wife Christine Chan had succeeded in changing her status with a statutory declaration document.
However, their daughters, who have been issued MyKad and Malaysian passports, and birth certificates stating they are Sarawakians, were denied the change because they were born outside Sarawak.
JPN Sarawak had clarified that applications for Native status come under the purview of the Sarawak Bumiputera Court and parents and individuals concerned must deal with the court for the application, as this was outside the department’s jurisdiction.
A year ago, Libat had called on the state government to resolve the issue of children who through the legal implementation of the law were rendered raceless, following a more restrictive interpretation of ‘Native’ by the Land and Survey Department which overturned the original time-honoured recognition of these inheritance rights and ‘adat’ that had been accepted and practised by their ancestors since the last century.
He said all native groups, a child of a male or female Native parent, belongs to the Native community without any distinction, and any child may be entitled to receive inheritance from his parents, according to the wishes of the parents whether native customary rights (NCR) land, Native titled land or chattels.
His call resonated across the state and drew the support of various associations and mixed-marriage families which led to the Sarawak government to amend the State Constitution on Native status recognition this year.
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