Cabinet did not decide to do away with 'race' column in government forms - Najib

The Cabinet did not decide to do away with the 'race' column in government official forms, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said today.

He said there had been no change in the government policy pertaining to the forms.

"We (the Cabinet) discussed the matter and the decision was to retain the existing policy and practice," he told reporters after opening the Taiping Umno building here.

The media today reported quoting Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Joseph Entulu Belaun that the Cabinet had decided to drop the 'race' column in government official forms that had no value added.

Najib said he had been informed that Entulu would issue a statement of apology over the mistake.

"For the sake of statistics, we need it (the race column). Otherwise, we will not have the statistics (by race)," he said.

The prime minister said the statistics by race was necessary to facilitate government monitoring of the progress of every community in the country.

"It is the responsibility of the government to do whatever it can for any community left behind to ensure a balance in the distribution of wealth and opportunities in the country," he said.