Rwanda, it was said, was one of the few countries in the world where the citizens are required to fill in their ethnic group in government forms. It was also said that there was no ethnic distinction initially until Western colonizers colonized the country and divided the people into Tutsis and Hutus. When there is a call to do away with the race column in government forms in Malaysia, some people were for the idea citing that a name itself will easily give away the person's race. Malaysia, being a multiracial country, has as her citizens three major races, the Malay, Indian and Chinese. Malays always have their Muslim names, Indian, their Indian names and if a Chinese does not have a Chinese name but an English name, his ethnic group would still be given away by his surname or family name. That would also be true for Chinese, who convert to Islam who would still have the family name attached to their new Muslim names. Then, of course, I think there would be exceptions to the rule if you cite names like Christopher Lee or Jonathan Yeo. Lee is a common Chinese family name and when you are discussing Chinese, you'd probably think of Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew instead of Christopher Lee, the British subject who appeared in Dracula movies in the 70s. And then of course, there is also the Rolling Stone member who recently auctioned nude paintings of famous saucy celebrities, Jonathan Yeo. He is in no way, related to the Chinese lady, Michelle Yeoh (inset). Yeoh, of course, is a common Chinese family name, too. All said, a name does not always give away a man's ethnic group, you may say.
Now, look out for Christopher Lee....
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