Dayaks: We’re not lain-lain

(NST) KUCHING: "We are not 'dan lain lain', we are Dayaks!"

This is the reaction among Dayaks who want to be recognised not as "dan lain lain" (others) but as Dayaks when filling Federal Government forms.

They feel that the term is discriminatory and disadvantageous to them. It means that their Bumiputera status is not recognised and want their identity to be recognised nationwide.

Sarawak Dayak Iban Association secretary-general Nicholas Mujah said the word "Dayak" had to be recognised as a legal term.

"It is not appropriate to put a new 'brand name' such as Bumiputera Sarawak to denote the natives here.

"The term Dayak is much more suitable as it is the general term for all the tribes in Sarawak," he added yesterday.