KUALA LUMPUR: Only 198 of 346 government official forms retained the space on racial identity, revealed a survey by the Malaysian Administrative Modernisation and Management Planning Unit (Mampu) in 2011.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Joseph Entulu Belaun said racial identity information is still required in several government official forms because they involve legal aspects and certain requirements, the Dewan Rakyat was told.
He said the space on identity information in some government forms was maintained because of the requirements under Article 153 of the Federal Constitution and certain laws.
“Efforts to drop the race column in official government forms has been initiated since 2009.
“The cabinet meeting on July 29, 2009, agreed that forms used by the government, except MyKad and certain government documents, be reviewed by government agencies to drop the unnecessary identity information,” he told the Dewan Rakyat today in response to a supplementary question posed by Dr Mansor Abdul Rahman (BN – Sik). Read more