The emergence of new Malay race in Sabah

Sabah used to have 30 plus different ethnic races, and hardly any Malay during the independence day in 1963.

But with the efforts of government and islamic influence, quite a number of local ethnic groups, either they were muslim originally or those converted, are slowly, and gradually, claiming themselves as 'Malay'; perhaps in line with the trend of the nation building, and the strong influence of the Malay presence in Semenanjung, and most importantly, the extension of UMNO in Sabah since 1994.

The news attached is the proof of the UMNO leaders claiming to woo more Malay voters to the constituency of Sepanggar.

If going by logic, these Malay in Sabah should be rightly called Bajau Malay, Suluk Malay, Ilanun Malay, Dusun Malay, Brunei Malay etc...Now they all call themselves simply as 'Malay'.

What puzzling me is that why specifically wooing the Malay, and not other bumiputra of other ethnic groups who are not muslim to the constituency?

Maybe, they rather prefer to be officially grouped as Malay for many reasons.