More Malays see selves as Muslims first, pollster says

(Malay Mail Online) – Malays are increasingly identifying themselves by their religion first over their ethnicity or nationality, independent pollster Merdeka Center said today in a forum on race politics.

Citing its yet-to-published joint study with Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs, executive director Ibrahim Suffian (pic, right) said 60 per cent of Malay respondents identify as Muslims, while 27 per cent of them identify as Malaysians.

In comparison, only 3 per cent of the ethnic Chinese identify themselves by religious identity, while 16 per cent of ethnic Indians do so.

“Most minorities, whether they are Bumiputera or not, they will tend to perceive themselves as Malaysians. With the exception of the dominant group Malays.

“Malays are increasingly identifying themselves as Muslims first,” Ibrahim said in the roundtable held by the Global Movement of Moderates Malaysia.

Ibrahim explained that the proportion of Malays identifying themselves as Muslims has increased only marginally since the last poll 10 years ago, but those who identify themselves by their ethnicity were now considerably fewer.

In total, 44 per cent of Malaysian respondents identify themselves by their nationality, 34 per cent by religious identity, and only 13 per cent by their ethnicity.

“Is there a greater sense of religious awareness? Or is there a sort of conflation that being a Malay means being a Muslim that they’re both one and the same, and therefore the people who feel a bit ashamed to say they’re Malay are saying they are Muslims?” Ibrahim asked.

He later suggested that the conflation might have come from race-based political parties that increasingly bring up religious matters.

Merdeka Center said it will release the final report in September with more details and final analysis.

Muslims make up 61.3 per cent of the Malaysian population, followed by Buddhists at 19.8 per cent, and Christians at 9.2 per cent, according to the latest census data from 2010.

In Malaysia, Malays are constitutionally defined as professing the Muslim faith.