KUALA LUMPUR — Most Malay Malaysians identify themselves as “Muslims first” rather than Malaysians or Malays first, independent pollster Merdeka Centre said yesterday, amid rising religious conservatism in the country.
The centre’s executive director Ibrahim Suffian said its recent survey had found 60 per cent of Malays seeing themselves as being Muslim first, as opposed to 27 per cent who had identified themselves as Malaysians and only 6 per cent as Malays.
In contrast, only 3 per cent of Chinese and 16 per cent of Indians said they identified themselves by their religion, based on the survey, which he said would be published on Sept 5.
“Most Malaysians see themselves as Malaysians first, with the exception of the dominant group, Malays,” Mr Ibrahim told a discussion on the politics of race in Malaysia yesterday, organised by the Global Movement of Moderates.“Malays are increasingly identify themselves as Muslims first.”
He added that fewer Malays were identifying themselves by their ethnicity compared with 10 years ago, despite Barisan Nasional’s (BN) reliance on race to woo voters.
In 2005, 11 per cent of Malays polled by Merdeka Centre said they saw themselves as Malays first. This has now dropped to 6 per cent, said Mr Ibrahim.
Meanwhile, most Chinese (58 per cent) and Indians (63 per cent) saw themselves as Malaysians first, while 24 per cent Chinese and 11 per cent Indians identified themselves by their ethnicity, based on the latest survey.
“Future campaigning based on race will have a tough time convincing the electorate,” Mr Ibrahim said.
He added that Malaysia’s 2013 general election results already suggested Malaysians did not respond to race baiting. “If you look overall, BN still lost 4 per cent of the popular vote, so I think there’s a limit to how much racial rhetoric can be used.
“Maybe as many as 40 per cent of Malays don’t respond to Malay markers. They are more concerned with issues of good governance and what the government can do for them.”
He said Malay voter support for ruling party United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) improved only by 2 per cent during the last election, and that support figures were markedly lower among young Malay voters.
Meanwhile, opposition party Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) gained 1.2 per cent more of the popular vote because of support from non-Malays, he added. “Malay support for PAS declined marginally by 1.3 per cent, mostly from (the states of) Perlis and Kedah,” he said. “This means its partnership with the Democratic Action Party did not substantially subtract support in locations such as Perak, Selangor or Johor.”
Source: www.themalaysianinsider.com
