Report: M’sia high on religious intolerance


A US-based report suggests that while Malaysia’s government was more relaxed on religious restrictions, it still had a long way to go. 

Patrick Lee, FMT

At  first glance, Malaysia may be enjoying more religious freedom today, according to the US-based think tank, the Pew Research Center.

In a report entitled “Rising Tide of Restrictions on Religion” surveying 197 regions, Malaysia’s government seemed to be more relaxed over religion, scoring 6.4 in mid-2010, compared to 8.1 in mid-2009.

However, the decrease in government-applied restriction -collated under the report’s Government Restriction Index- still puts it at 0.2 points below the “Very High” marker.

As a result, the country now shares a “High” placement with nations such as Pakistan, Bangladesh and Iraq.

At the same time, Malaysia seemed to have higher social hostility where religion was concerned. In mid-2009, the group’s Social Hostility Index (SHI) marked Malaysia with a score of 1.3. In mid-2010, this figure increased to 2.2.

As such, Malaysia is termed as a “Moderate” country SHI-wise, sharing the category with the US, Zimbabwe, Cambodia, Haiti and Australia.

According to the report, the GRI’s score was determined by various questions including:

  • how national law and policy affected religious freedom.
  • the regulation of religious symbols.
  • harrassment of religious groups by any level of government.
  • terming certain groups as “dangerous cults” or “sects”.
  • if all religious groups had same level of government access or privilege.

The SHI on the other hand, was determined by questions such as:

  • whether there were crimes involving religious hatred or bias.
  • if sectarian violence occurred.
  • if religious groups prevented other groups from operating.
  • the threat of violence to enforce religious norms.
  • the harrassment of women for violating dress codes.

The report did not delve into Malaysia’s individual score.

Meanwhile, the report said that more than 5 billion people in the world today (75%) lived in a country where their government restricted them from practicing their faith.

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