KOTA KINABALU: When Kinney Junior Clarence applied to rent a room in Bukit Puchong, he anticipated the usual questions from agents, such as location, job, budget, and race.
What the 37-year-old customer service specialist from Sabah did not expect was to be indirectly told that he was not "Malaysian enough."
Clarence, who has lived and worked in the Klang Valley for about five years, shared a conversation on Threads that left many netizens both amused and annoyed.
He had applied for a room via a rental site and, as per routine, filled in his details, listing his ethnicity as Kadazan.
To his surprise, the property agent replied that the unit was "reserved for local Malaysians only."
"I was stunned. I replied, ‘Kadazan is Sabahan, sister! I’m Malaysian too," Clarence told The Star.
Despite his explanation, he said the agent never responded after that.
Rather than getting angry, Clarence chose to laugh it off.
"It was funny and a bit infuriating at the same time, because it is such a basic thing. Kadazan is not even a rare ethnicity. Imagine if I had mentioned some of the lesser-known races in Sabah," he said.
Clarence added that this was not the first time he had encountered such ignorance.
"People in the peninsula often confuse ethnic groups in Sabah and Sarawak. Some think Iban is from Sabah, or Kadazan from Sarawak. It is common, but still disappointing," he said.
Originally from Penampang, he returned to the Klang Valley to build his career after the Covid-19 pandemic, having previously studied there.
He said he was looking for a room in Bukit Puchong simply because it was closer to his office.
Fortunately, Clarence has since found a better place, which he described as "closer to work, better, and with no issues like that."
His post has since gone viral, receiving over 1,700 likes and 298 comments, many from fellow East Malaysians sharing similar experiences.
One Sarawakian said the issue extended beyond house hunting, recounting job interviews where she was told, "Sorry, we only hire Malaysians at the moment."
Another recalled being welcomed to "Malaysia" by fellow university students on her first day of class, despite being from Sabah.
One commenter from rural Sarawak joked that as a Kenyah, they were mistaken for someone from East Africa’s Kenya.
Others questioned how such confusion could still happen, with one suggesting the agent "retake her History and Geography papers."
Despite the humour, Clarence hopes Malaysians, especially in Peninsular Malaysia, will make more effort to understand the country's cultural and ethnic diversity.
"Come on lah, it’s 2025. We should not still be asking if someone from Sabah is Malaysian," he said.
