What’s My Race?

I was born in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah but was raised in Penang since I was 4 months young. My Dad is a Chinese, my mom is a Sino-Kadazan (Chinese + Kadazan). For the benefit of those who haven’t heard of Sino-Kadazan, it is a phrase used to describe the half Kadazan and half Chinese race.
My birth certificate and identity card bears a Chinese name. However, my birth certificate shows my race as “Chinese” but my Identity Card shows my race as “Sino-Native’.

When someone ask me, what is your nationality? I would simply answer “I’m a Malaysian”. However, when they ask me what’s my race, I’ll take some time to answer : Chinese? Sino-Kadazan? Most of the time, when they finally strike out the possibility that I’m a Malay (because I don’t look like a Chinese), they would then guess that I’m a Sino. I do have some people thinking I'm Portugese, Siamese, Filipino or Indonesian..On the contrary, my sister is fairer and she usually gets people thinking she's Chinese or Korean :P
What should I fill up in the race column in forms? Chinese or Sino-Kadazan? Hmm?? To make things simple – I shall just state “Chinese” under the race column since my dad is Chinese.

I have a bad habit – when I go shopping, and the sales person walks up to me and started to speak to me in Bahasa Melayu, I’ll smile at the person and said “Thank you, I was just looking around” , then I’ll walk out of the shop even I have the intention to buy the item.
There’s one incident when I was with my sister at a pharmacy. She and I was browsing on the many types of vitamins being displayed and soon enough, a salesgirl walked up beside us. She said,”Ini semua ada diskaun”. Then I told my sister in a tone a bit louder than a whisper “Oh there goes, I’m so not buying from here”...Giggled and then I walk out of the shop while my sister still continue browsing. When my sister got out from the pharmacy, she said the salesgirl apologised to her for thinking we’re Malays because she said we don't have Chinese eyes...Haaa???

Anyway, since my mom is a bumiputra, I wrote to Jabatan Pendaftaran Negara to clarify whether I’m considered as a bumiputra or not. The reply I received as follows :
“Tuan boleh rujuk perlembagaan persekutuan di bawah perkara 161a (6) dalam perkara ini, 'bumiputra' ertinya........ selain itu, untuk makluman tuan, penentuan status bumiputra seseorang juga bergantung kepada agensi yang anda berurusan. harap maklum, sekian terima kasih”

Perlembagaan Persekutuan
Perkara 161A.
Kedudukan istemewa anak negeri Negeri Sabah dan Sarawak.
(6) Dalam Perkara ini "anak negeri/ bumiputra" ertinya—
(b) berhubung dengan Sabah, seseorang yang merupakan warganegara, ialah anak atau cucu kepada seorang daripada suatu ras asli bagi Sabah, dan telah lahir (sama ada atau tidak pada atau selepas Hari Malaysia) sama ada di Sabah atau dengan bapanya berdomisil di Sabah pada masa kelahiran itu.

In Wikipedia the defination of Bumiputra:
1. Peninsular Malaysia : "If one of the parents is Muslim Malay or Orang Asli as stated in Article 160 (2) Federal Constitution of Malaysia; thus the child is considered as a Bumiputra"

2. Sabah :“If a father is a Muslim Malay or indigenous native of Sabah as stated in Article 160A (6)(a) Federal Constitution of Malaysia; thus his child is considered as a Bumiputra"

3. Sarawak :"If both of the parent are indigenous native of Sarawak as stated in Article 160A (6)(b) Federal Constitution of Malaysia; thus their child is considered as a Bumiputra"

According to the Perlembagaan, I can be considered a bumiputra.
According to Wikipedia, since my dad is a Chinese, then I ought to be Chinese instead.
Hmm..I’m starting to feel a bit dizzy.. hahaha