Malaysia

From RationalWiki
Jump to: navigation, search

Malaysia is that pointy bit below Thailand, with a chunk of Borneo thrown in too. Malaysia has a peculiar political atmosphere. There are a large number of ethnic groups, both indigenous and immigrant (or descended from immigrants).

Contents

[edit] Religion, ethnicity and law

Muslims make up about 60% of the population, including — by constitutional definition — the entire Malay ethnic group (about 50%). The next largest ethnic group is the Chinese (about 25%), who, like Chinese people elsewhere, observe a combination of Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism and other traditions. The Indian minority (about 7% of the population) includes Hindus and Muslims. There are also Christian minorities. Malaysia is also the only country in the world where candidates are required to state their ethnicity and religious views before sitting for a public examination.[citation needed]

Malaysia's laws are a strange mixture of secular and religious, with different standards applied to different groups. The constitution requires that every ethnic Malay be a Muslim — but the other groups can believe what they like. Muslims are legally subject to Sharia law, meaning that activities such as premarital sex[1] and imbibing alcohol — which are perfectly normal among the Chinese community, some of the Indian community, and tourists — are legally punishable for ethnic Malays and other Muslims. Those wishing to abandon Islam or convert to another faith may still be referred to a Sharia court for punishment, since both the secular and Sharia court might not recognise the conversion, and they could be held liable for the crime of apostasy.

Corporal punishment (by caning) is practised by both the secular and Sharia courts for some offences. Capital punishment (by hanging) is the usual sentence for serious crimes, and is mandatory for convicted murderers.

In 2014, Malaysia banned the use of the word "Allah" by non-Muslims.

[edit] Bumiputra

Though the word Bumiputra (or Bumiputera, literally "son of the land") does not appear in the constitution, the word in Malaysian politics refers specifically to Article 153 of the Federal Constitution.[2] It effectively refers to ethnic Malays, and indigenous people of Sarawak and Sabah — in contrast to ethnic Chinese, ethnic Indians and Orang Asli. The Orang Asli are the indigenous people of the Malay Peninsula, and are among the poorest and most vulnerable people in Malaysia.[3] In contrast, ethnic Malays, who represent half the population, and most of the political power, have a constitutionally-defined affirmative action program working in their favor. Some government departments have included Orang Asli as a protected class[4][5], but this is not constitutionally-enshrined. Privileges for the Bumiputra include: minimum 30% Bumiputra ownership of stocks listed on the stock exchange, housing preferences, government contract preferences, education preferences, and automobile import preferences. Some, if not all, of these preferences have led to corruption.[6]

[edit] Politics

Malaysia is, on paper, a democracy — even the king (Yang di-Pertuan Agong) is elected (not by popular vote, but on a rotating basis determined by his fellow sultans and rajas).[7] In practice the Prime Minister has always been a member of the United Malays National Organisation, the party which has been in power since independence in 1957. Members of the opposition, including one who has held office as lofty as Deputy Prime Minister, can expect imprisonment and beatings by the police as reward for their efforts.[8]

[edit] Secular organisations in Malaysia

Due to the very low population of atheists and agnostics in Malaysia, there is currently no official secular organisation in Malaysia. However there is one Facebook group known as MAFA (Malaysian Atheist Freethinkers and Agnostics) which represents the atheist/agnostic minority in Malaysia.

[edit] Incidents

On 13 May 1969 an opposition party won the election for the control of the state of Selangor. During the party's victory celebration, their supporters clashed with the ruling party's supporters who also insisted on doing their own celebration. Many Malaysians (mostly Chinese) died during the incident.

In 2007, a large majority of the people came to Kuala Lumpur to march for free and fair elections (BERSIH). The event was broken up violently by the police.

[edit] See also

[edit] Footnotes

  1. or even 'close proximity' (khalwat) between the sexes
  2. The full Malaysian Federal Constitution
  3. Study and Review of the Socio-Economic Status of Aboriginal Peoples (Orang Asli) in Peninsular Malaysia for the Formulation of a National Development Plan for the Orang Asli
  4. Being ‘mixed’ is no privilege
  5. Orang Asli not Bumiputera, say experts
  6. The NEP and corruption: Why Malaysia is lagging behind
  7. Malaysian royalty enjoyed complete immunity from legal prosecution until the 1993 amendment of the constitution following some particularly egregious abuses by royalty.
  8. Including an anti-homosexual witch-hunt[wp].
Personal tools
Namespaces

Variants
Actions
Navigation
Community
Tools
support