The proposal was tabled at the Sarawak party’s annual convention in Bintulu.

It urged the state to adopt a more inclusive approach that reflects Sarawak’s multiracial identity, the Dayak Daily reported.

Native status in Sarawak is defined by the Sarawak Interpretation Ordinance and is conferred on a person who belongs to any of the indigenous ethnic groups of Sarawak, including Iban, Bidayuh, Orang Ulu, or Malay.

Calls for expansion of native status have arisen in Sarawak before.

Sarawak DAP chairman Chong Chieng Jen made a similar call in 2022. He said people of Chinese, Indian and other ancestry were natives as much as any other Sarawakian by the third generation.

In March, Julau MP Larry Sng suggested that the Sarawak government consider giving Bumiputera status to Sarawakian Chinese. He said the ancestors of many Sarawakian Chinese had lived in the state from about 150 years ago.

At the Sarawak DAP convention, a total of 13 resolutions were tabled. They urged the state government to improve the racial balance in the civil service, carry out flood mitigation, and provide ways to give compensation for victims of natural disasters.

Other resolutions called for greater transparency in borrowings by state-linked companies, reforms in the Sarawak state assembly, and the speeding up of stalled housing projects.

The party also pressed for the replacement of ageing water pipes, fairer assessment rates by local councils, and an independent probe into public complaints about inflated electricity bills following the installation of smart meters by Sarawak Energy Bhd, the state-owned utility company.

The convention also discussed the need to review the state’s hydrogen-powered Autonomous Rapid Transit initiative and to ensure that development policies benefit both rural and urban communities.