“Lain-lain” Malaysians Combined with Non-Citizens in Report on COVID Deaths

On October 7th, the Malaysian Health Ministry released demographic data for COVID deaths over the past year in response to a question from Dr. Ong Kian Ming, member of the Democratic Action Party. Within the ethnic breakdown of Malaysian deaths, 273 (57.96%) were “lain-lain,” the Malaysian name for “others.” However, an investigation conducted by Malaysiakini revealed that the “lain-lain” totals included noncitizens. “Lain-lain” are Malaysian citizens, and the discrepancy is being corrected by the government. The other ethnic options for citizens are Malay, Chinese, and Indian. 

The category “lain-lain,” used in the census and other government data collection,  includes a wide variety of “others,” due to the presence of many indigenous tribes, as well as Portuguese, Dutch, British, and Japanese settlers in Malaysia over the past century. The racial category isn’t chosen; it follows directly from the father’s lineage. Since the general election in 2018, awareness of how these categories can be restrictive has led to more youth activism regarding government racial categories.

Like all census categories that elide mixed and “othered” identities, the “lain-lain” group’s heterogeneity may prevent a nuanced understanding of needs and allocation of resources. And the stakes could be higher with an illness as severe as COVID-19. Separately, the combination of both “others” and noncitizens does two things: 1) further obscures the identities and needs of minority groups in Malaysia, and 2) effectively equates a certain group of Malaysian citizens with noncitizens. The lack of extensive international and national news coverage suggests that this is just an honest mistake by the government. Hopefully that is the case. 

https://presentations.curf.upenn.edu/poster/what-lain-lain-construction-other-contemporary-malaysia

https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/594502

https://www.buro247.my/culture/insiders/dan-lain-lain-what-its-like-growing-up-as-mixed-ra.html