{
  "id": 17891313,
  "title": "Kerajaan digesa iktiraf ‘Dayak’ sebagai klasifikasi kaum rasmi",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/03/kerajaan-digesa-iktiraf-dayak-sebagai-klasifikasi-kaum-rasmi-17891313",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-11-03T01:11:38.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Free Malaysia Today",
    "slug": "free-malaysia-today-freemalays",
    "url": "https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/bahasa/tempatan/2026/11/03/kerajaan-digesa-iktiraf-dayak-sebagai-klasifikasi-kaum-rasmi"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS) is urging the government to recognize Dayak as a formal ethnic category, rather than placing it under the 'Other' classification in forms and government systems. Sanjan Daik, Deputy Chief of PBDS, stated that party leaders, including the party's President, John Brian Anthony, raised the issue during a meeting with the Sabah and Sarawak Welfare Division at the Prime Minister's Office yesterday. The meeting included Ahmad Nazib Johari, the party's political secretary to the Prime Minister, who is also a former PKR Sarawak chairman.\n\nRecognizing the Dayak identity should not continue to be a recurring issue without a definitive solution, Sanjan warned. He recalled that in 2015, then Prime Minister's Department Minister Joseph Entulu Belaun announced that the Ministry had agreed to include Dayak in the government's official forms. However, he noted that the implementation was limited to the official forms that did not require legal amendments. In other words, some forms still allow for a blank ethnicity category, allowing applicants to fill it in themselves, while others provide specific options.\n\nRecognizing Dayak identity is not just about changing the ethnic classification in government forms, as it also involves recognizing the history, primacy, and dignity of the community. PBDS calls on Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to make this matter a priority and ensure that the principles of respect, understanding, and appreciation for diversity translate into action, according to Sanjan.",
  "summary": "Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak berkata komuniti itu tidak patut sekadar diletakkan bawah kategori 'Lain-lain' dalam borang dan sistem kerajaan.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}