73% of Malay respondents backed the continuation of bumiputera privileges

FireOpal · Nov 23, 2024, 08:38 AM

Malays form the majority with 60 per cent of the 32 million population, while Chinese, Indians and other ethnic groups make up the remaining 40 per cent.

When the survey of 1,605 young people aged 18 to 30 drilled down to answers from Malay respondents, it found that 73 per cent of them backed the continuation of bumiputera privileges and only 24 per cent were in favour of equal rights for all Malaysians.

"Malay rights should not be abolished because Malays have been here from the start. Malaysia was called Tanah Melayu, and the Chinese and Indians came here from China and India only a few years before independence," said Ms Sharifah Dania, an 18-year-old student in Johor Bahru.

In fact, millions of Chinese and Indian migrants arrived in Malaysia in the late 19th century to work in tin mines and rubber estates when the country was under British colonial rule. They were granted citizenship when Malaysia became independent in 1957.

The 26-year-old from Perak state capital Ipoh, where Chinese and Indians make up just over half the population, said he had many non-Malay friends who were straight-A students but could not get a spot in any of the country's 20 public universities.

"They can't afford private universities so their parents had to take loans while a less qualified Malay who is not even interested in studying was given a place in the university," he told ST.

Such racial quotas in education foster division rather than unity, said college student Syarifa Meddina Suheimi, who is of Malay, Chinese and Indian heritage.

https://www.straitstimes.com/multimedia/graphics/2024/11/malaysia-race-privilege/index.html?shell