santosh10
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Ethnic and religious discrimination big challenge for Malaysia's minorities
25 May 2011, By Farah Mihlar
Minority Rights Group International : Comment & analysis : Ethnic and religious discrimination big challenge for Malaysia's minorities
Malaysia prides itself on being a multi-cultural Muslim country. Its majority population are Malays in ethnicity who follow the Islamic religion. Some eight percent are Indians and about 40 percent Chinese. These ethnic groups profess different religions including Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Sikhism, and Christianity. The country also has a significant indigenous population known as Orang Asli.
While most of these communities live peacefully in Malaysia and are able to develop their lives and enjoy their rights, there remain a host of serious issues affecting minorities. These are human rights violations affecting people because of both their ethnic and religious identities.
During a recent visit to Kuala Lumpur the MCCBCHST (Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism) helped organise interviews with religious leaders and activists, who discussed some of the main issues affecting minorities.
When Malaysia's economy took off in the 80's, leading the way as one of South East Asia's tiger economies, the country also brought in several policies privileging the majority community. Popularly known as 'Bumiputera' or 'son of the soil' these policies favour the Malay community over others
Activists explained that the policies are not always blatantly discriminatory, but they can be very subtle and impact every area of life including citizenship.
'Though on paper citizenship is available for everyone, non-Malays seem to take a longer time to get citizenship', says Reverend Dr. Thomas Philips, of the Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM).
If you are Muslim immigrant you are more easily able to get citizenship than if you are not. Spouses of non-Muslim Malaysians who come from other countries find particularly frustrating to get citizenship.
'Malay' as an ethnicity is intrinsically linked to Islam, together with other criteria such as adhering to Malay culture (which arguably minorities also do) and having a Malay grandparent. The main defining factor is religion.
Ethnic discrimination in education and employment
In education and in certain professions, Malays are favoured through quota systems. Malaysia is one of the few countries in the world where the ethnic majority community benefits from quotas.
'The Judiciary, the civil service and the Police do not reflect the racial composition of the nation,' Reverend Dr. Thomas Philips says.
Places in prestigious residential schools in Malaysia are offered only to Malay students, while across the country Malays are given a quota to enable them to have better access and to progress well to tertiary education.
'It is a deliberate policy of one race dominating public service and education. In other countries minorities get special rights, not here. It is very difficult for minorities to survive here,' says Sardar V. Harcharan Singh of the Malaysian Gurdwaras Council (MGC).
As religion is so closely connected to ethnicity and nationalism in Malaysia, discrimination is not just on racial grounds but on religious as well.
Non-Muslims face serious issues of discrimination simply because of their religious beliefs.
Minority Rights Group International : Comment & analysis : Ethnic and religious discrimination big challenge for Malaysia's minorities
25 May 2011, By Farah Mihlar
Minority Rights Group International : Comment & analysis : Ethnic and religious discrimination big challenge for Malaysia's minorities
Malaysia prides itself on being a multi-cultural Muslim country. Its majority population are Malays in ethnicity who follow the Islamic religion. Some eight percent are Indians and about 40 percent Chinese. These ethnic groups profess different religions including Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Sikhism, and Christianity. The country also has a significant indigenous population known as Orang Asli.
While most of these communities live peacefully in Malaysia and are able to develop their lives and enjoy their rights, there remain a host of serious issues affecting minorities. These are human rights violations affecting people because of both their ethnic and religious identities.
During a recent visit to Kuala Lumpur the MCCBCHST (Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism) helped organise interviews with religious leaders and activists, who discussed some of the main issues affecting minorities.
When Malaysia's economy took off in the 80's, leading the way as one of South East Asia's tiger economies, the country also brought in several policies privileging the majority community. Popularly known as 'Bumiputera' or 'son of the soil' these policies favour the Malay community over others
Activists explained that the policies are not always blatantly discriminatory, but they can be very subtle and impact every area of life including citizenship.
'Though on paper citizenship is available for everyone, non-Malays seem to take a longer time to get citizenship', says Reverend Dr. Thomas Philips, of the Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM).
If you are Muslim immigrant you are more easily able to get citizenship than if you are not. Spouses of non-Muslim Malaysians who come from other countries find particularly frustrating to get citizenship.
'Malay' as an ethnicity is intrinsically linked to Islam, together with other criteria such as adhering to Malay culture (which arguably minorities also do) and having a Malay grandparent. The main defining factor is religion.
Ethnic discrimination in education and employment
In education and in certain professions, Malays are favoured through quota systems. Malaysia is one of the few countries in the world where the ethnic majority community benefits from quotas.
'The Judiciary, the civil service and the Police do not reflect the racial composition of the nation,' Reverend Dr. Thomas Philips says.
Places in prestigious residential schools in Malaysia are offered only to Malay students, while across the country Malays are given a quota to enable them to have better access and to progress well to tertiary education.
'It is a deliberate policy of one race dominating public service and education. In other countries minorities get special rights, not here. It is very difficult for minorities to survive here,' says Sardar V. Harcharan Singh of the Malaysian Gurdwaras Council (MGC).
As religion is so closely connected to ethnicity and nationalism in Malaysia, discrimination is not just on racial grounds but on religious as well.
Non-Muslims face serious issues of discrimination simply because of their religious beliefs.
Minority Rights Group International : Comment & analysis : Ethnic and religious discrimination big challenge for Malaysia's minorities