Sarawak PKR Chief Baru Bian says the honourable thing for Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Joseph Entulu Belaun is to quit his post for his  policy 'blunder' on the 'race column' issue only to be refuted later by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

Entulu (right) was yesterday forced to apologise for the confusion caused by his statement on the dropping of the 'race' column with no added value in official forms, following a directive from the prime minister.

In his statement, Entulu who is deputy president of Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS), admitted that the matter was discussed at the federal cabinet, but no decision was taken.

Asked to comment on the issue at the sidelines of state legislative assembly meeting, Baru, the Ba'Kelalan assemblyperson, said that they (prime minister and government) were for the race issue, but Entulu was asking for it to be dropped.

"He should resign since the prime minister disagreed with his suggestion. Why should he support a prime minister who blatantly kills you?

"Whatever it is, he is in the BN and is against a BN policy. But if he does not resign, then they will terminate him unless of course they tolerate that kind of blunder," he said.

Race factor in decision-making

The PKR leader said that the bigger issue is whether the word 'race' should be in the form itself or not.

"What we fear is that once you have a profile of a person, the tendency is that you will be biased after knowing his race," he said, adding that there are pros and cons.

"On one hand, they want to determine where you belong, but if race is the determining factor that you have been accepted in your work or reappraised for promotion, then it is unjust," he said.

And on the other hand, they want the word 'race'  because they want to fulfill the tasks of the government on issues such as the New Economic Policy (NEP), he said.

"My stand is that the word 'race' should be in the form, but then it should not be used as the determining factor for any kind of employment, recruitment, promotion and even government contract.

"That one I disagree with as it is not fair," he said.

On the words 'lain-lain' in the government official forms to describe other races such as Ibans, Lun Bawang, Bidayuhs, etc, other than the Malays, Chinese and Indians,  Baru said that the Dayaks want to be recognised.

"Because of the words 'lain-lain' to describe my race, I was the victim of such a policy as I could not get a scholarship to pursue my law degree in Melbourne.

"I was the only Lun Bawang selected at that time to further my studies in Melbourne, and yet the government gave me a loan instead of a scholarship," he said, pointing out that for a loan he had to pay back.

Baru was not also happy that Lun Bawang, just like Iban, are being grouped under the 'bumiputera' category together with the Malays.

"It is unfair for me to be grouped under bumiputera or lain-lain. But if you want to put race, then every race must be included in the form.

"But then what is the bottom line of putting race in the form?

"I hope the government does not use it to victimise or discriminate against a person," he said.