[Dastyh]

...in Malaysia there is a funny kind of reverse discrimination...

Sometimes, what happens is a Malaysian Chinese or a Tamil Hindu becomes a Muslim... and somewhere along the way Govt officials sometimes "forget" and classify them as Malays... LOL! Sometimes even when they don't really want to be. It's one way of boosting the percentage of Malays in a country with sizable non-Malay minorities.

My bro told me that in the Constitution, a "Malay" is defined to be a Muslim who speaks Malay language and practices at least some Malay customs...

Local Indian Muslims who have family links with local Malays are sometimes classed "Malays" in their identification... We do have "Malays" named Patel and Khan and Mir, and Mahathir's full name is said to be Mahathir bin Mohamad Kutty... (his politics emphasized ethnic Malay nationalism... it's rather funny when you think about it). Some rise to high positions. They seem to have a reputation for being cunning and a bit tricksy.

But this applies to ethnic Indians and Chinese whose families migrated here before or somewhat after Independence, it's probably a bit harder now for new immigrants.