For decades since Malaysia’s independence, people from the states of Sabah and Sarawak have long been recognised as Malaysians too. Sadly, some are still ignorant of this fact.
A man from Penampang, Sabah, who was looking to rent a room in Bukit Puchong had a shock of his life after an agent told him he couldn’t rent the place as he wasn’t a Malaysian.
Kadazan man fails to rent room due to ‘not being a M’sian’
Taking to Threads to share the bizarre exchange, the man named Kinney Junior Clarence wrote he was looking for a room to rent and came across an agent who had an available room.
After filling in his personal details, Clarence was flabbergasted by the agent’s reply, who bluntly told him that the room was only reserved for “local Malaysians”.
This left Clarence deeply frustrated and shocked, given the fact that he was from the Kadazan-Dusun ethnicity group, which is the largest ethnic group in Sabah.
As such, he responded to the agent writing, “Kadazan is Sabahan, sister! I’m Malaysian too!”. However, the latter never replied him afterwards.
‘Not the first time’
Speaking to The Star, Clarence said such experiences were “funny and a bit infuriating”.
It is such a basic thing. Kadazan is not even a rare ethnicity. Imagine if I had mentioned some of the lesser-known races in Sabah.
“People in the peninsula often confuse ethnic groups in Sabah and Sarawak. Some think Iban is from Sabah, or Kadazan from Sarawak. It is common, but still disappointing,” he added.
Clarence explained that he was looking for a room to rent in Bukit Puchong as it was nearer to his workplace. Thankfully, he has found a “much better” place to stay.
Similar experiences
Clarence’s Threads post has since gone viral, with many from the Bornean states sharing how they’ve been dismissed for “not being Malaysians”.
‘SARAWAKIAN HERE AND YES I FACED THE SAME ISSUE BEFORE. Not only house hunting, even work interviews too. ‘Hi sorry we only hire Malaysian(s) at this moment.’
‘I’m Sarawakian….last time I wanted to open a bank account at Selangor and the staff went all the way to the manager. The staff asked for my passport and wanted to ask the manager whether a non-Malaysian could open an account. WEIH I WAS SPEECHLESS.’
Do you know of anyone from Sabah/Sarawak who faced something similar? Share with us in the comments!
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