How racism in the modern world is still existent
Thursday, 5 May 2011
How racism in the modern world is still existent
54 years of Malaysian independence, the stats and figures
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Allah, to be banned or not?
Racism is largely perceived to be that of the ancestor. However, racism is still evident in today’s world; it is hard to find the fine balance between the races in a multi-racial society, commonly found in the south-east asia, including the cohesion between different religion and races alike.
In contrast to neighbours Singapore, Malaysia is one that is filled with racial differences, and of which two incidents will spring up to mind. Firstly, the near-banning of the word ‘allah’ by non-Muslims who are likely not to be one of the favourited Malays and next the Mahathir vs Lee Kuan Yew debate regarding the ideals of a multi-racial country.
Arguing about racial ideals last year
At 23.7% Chinese have long been recognized as the race with better potential and ability internationally, even with the many measures implemented to protect the rights of the native Malays. Malaysian Chinese are dominant in both business and commerce sectors in Malaysia. As a result, they are the biggest taxpayers among all ethnic groups in the country, contributing to almost 90 percent of the country's income tax. The list of famous Malaysian Chinese would include that of Gary Cao, Fish Leong, Guang Liang and Eric Moo all recognised singers in the music industry, based in Taiwan.
Did you know?
Only 23.7% of Malaysians are Chinese
90% of the country’s tax are paid by Chinese
100 companies managed by Chinese were taken over by government, and later managed by Malays since 1970s
A catholic church in Shah Alam took 20 years to apply to be constructed and was told to make it look like a factory instead of a church. As of 2004, the application has not been approved
Malays enjoy 12% interest through government unit trusts per annum while banks fixed deposits are only about 3.5% per annum
None of the government TV stations directors (RTM1, RTM2, TV3) are of non-Malay origin
The government claims to be stopping racism, the government claims to be doing its best to be fair to all races. What if the government was the one starting all of this. What then, can the citizens do?
In order to protect the rights of the native Malays, the government has introduced various measures directed to allow for Malays to benefit, including easier and more frequent job opportunities and other social benefits. These might have been needed by all, but only for Malays.
A good example would be that of local Malaysian petroleum company, Petronas. 99% of Petronas directors are Malays and only 3% of Petronas employees are Chinese. Most crucially, 100% of all contractors working under Petronas projects must be of Bumis status, that is to say, Malays.
In terms of economic status, the government has also done much to help the Malays. For example only Malays are allowed to get shop lots in the new Muar bus station, in order to increase their profit. Moreover, there was a 5% to 15% discount for a Malay to buy a house, regardless his financial situation.
Furthermore, education in Malaysia is also heavily tipped in the Malay’s favour, whereby only 2.5% is government budget for Chinese primary schools, Indian schools get only 1% while Malay schools got 96.5%. While a Chinese parent with RM1000 salary monthly cannot get school textbook subsidies, a Malay parent with RM2000 salary is eligible. Next, only 5% has been given to non-Malays for government scholarships in over 40 years. This is even more evidently shown as prior to 2003 the science schools in Malaysia were 100% filled with Malays. Even now, there is only a 10% quota for non-Bumi students.
Comparative to developing countries in the region, Malaysia is still a long way from being a multi-racial country. The first step to solving is by admitting the mistake. 8000 billion ringgit are channelled to Malay pockets through various government schemes over a 34 years period. As such, 2 million Chinese Malaysians have emigrated in the past 40 years. In order for change, Malaysia probably needs a non-Malay president, or the fight against racism will continue.