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.
