By Natasha Jee & Voon Yih Boon
KUCHING: The Sarawak government might consider looking into whether to amend the relevant laws so that children of mixed marriages involving natives can directly be granted native status.
Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg said mixed marriages were not an issue in Sarawak. To him, it adds beauty of the state that has common understanding among its multiracial people.
“Whether we have to amend the laws, we have to see the circumstances. We see whether it is appropriate to amend the laws.
“I can’t give you the exact answer, but we encourage mixed marriages,” he said at ‘A Sunday Morning with CM: Dialogue Session with Young Entrepreneurs in Sarawak’ at Pullman Hotel on Sunday (Sept 27).
Abang Johari said this in reply to Sarawakian artist Alena Murang (of Kelabit-English mixed parentage) who asked if the state government has plans to amend the laws to allow children of mixed marriages to be given native status directly instead of having to apply to the Native Court or any other authority.
“My wife is biologically a Chinese. She was adopted by a Malay family. This is what Sarawak is rich in, and that is the beauty of Sarawak,” he said.
