VZCZCXRO7887
PP RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHKL #1913/01 2860249
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 130249Z OCT 06
FM AMEMBASSY KUALA LUMPUR
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7745
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS
RHHMUNA/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 KUALA LUMPUR 001913 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/26/2016 
TAGS: PHUM PREL PGOV KDEM KWMN PINR SOCI KISL MY
SUBJECT: MALAYSIAN YOUTH POLL REVEALS SHARP ETHNIC DIVIDE 
AND POLITICAL APATHY 
 
REF: A. KUALA LUMPUR 1547 
 
     ¶B. KUALA LUMPUR 1516 
     ¶C. KUALA LUMPUR 365 
 
Classified By: Political Section Chief Mark D. Clark for reasons 1.4 b, 
d. 
 
CORRECTED COPY OF KL 1908 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1. (SBU) A recent opinion poll, funded by The Asia 
Foundation, of over 1,500 young Malaysian adults aged 18-32 
showed sharp differences of views on religion and national 
identity and the relation between state and religion among 
the country's three largest ethnic groups - the Malays, 
Chinese and Indians.  The majority of Malays, defined under 
law as Muslims, identified themselves first as Muslims and 
secondarily as Malaysians, in stark contrast to the other 
ethnic groups.  In addition, Malays exhibited far greater 
willingness to involve the government in religious affairs. 
About a third of all Malay respondents hoped that Malaysia 
would become "more Islamic" and supported adoption of Islamic 
(hudud) statutes for criminal offenses.  Less than a third of 
Malays surveyed supported equal rights for all cultures and 
religions.  The survey found common ground across ethnic 
boundaries in terms of Malaysian youths' high degree of 
cynicism toward elected officials, apathy about current 
affairs and political disengagement.  Over 40 percent of 
respondents would forgo elections in exchange for 
government-guaranteed peace, stability and economic growth. 
The survey's results highlighted the strong sense of 
Malay/Muslim identity and illustrated the sharp inter-ethnic 
differences that will continue to work against the emergence 
in Malaysia of a large multi-ethnic, multi-religious 
political party.  Post has forwarded the complete survey data 
to EAP/MTS.  End Summary. 
 
Survey Background and Respondent Demographics 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) The Merdeka Center for Opinion Research provided 
foreign diplomats on September 22 with recent opinion survey 
results about current attitudes of young Malaysians.  The 
Merdeka Center is a for-profit, independent opinion polling 
organization that has focused on socio-economic issues in 
Malaysia since its establishment in 2001.  It is owned by two 
private sector individuals.  The organization is largely 
funded through polling contracts with domestic and 
international sponsors, including project-specific USG grants 
totaling $56,000 in 2006 from the International Republican 
Institute.  Diplomats received the survey with great 
interest, as the government supplies few statistics broken 
down by ethnicity.  In addition, the government-controlled 
mainstream media does not typically fund or publish surveys 
that illustrate differing attitudes of Malays, Chinese and 
Indians - especially concerning sensitive topics such as race 
and religion. 
 
¶3. (U) The Asia Foundation (TAF) funded the Merdeka Center's 
latest telephone survey that was based on interviews with 
over 1,500 young adult Malaysians aged 18-32.  Participants 
were selected at random from every state.  The survey was 
designed to acquire a better understanding of the perceptions 
of Malaysian young adults toward their society, and to 
quantify their level of interest and engagement on civic 
issues affecting the country.  The survey was conducted 
between May 24 and June 7 and had a 3.1 percent margin of 
error.  The respondents' religious breakdown roughly mirrored 
that of Malaysia's overall population, with 60 percent 
Muslim, 16 percent Buddhist, 11 percent Christian, and 7.5 
percent Hindu.  The participants' ethnic breakdown also 
mirrored that of Malaysia, with 58 percent Malay, 25 percent 
Chinese, 8 percent Indian, and 9 percent indigenous.  Over 40 
percent were students, with 29 percent employed in the 
private sector, 8 percent employed by the government, 8 
percent unemployed and 6 percent self-employed.  Those aged 
18-23 comprised 58 percent of respondents.  Participants were 
equally divided by gender, slightly more urban than rural, 
and 80 percent were single.  TAF expressed interest in using 
the survey's results as a baseline from which to complete 
future surveys and conduct trend analyses. 
 
Role of Religion - Significant Ethnic Divide 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) The TAF-funded survey pointed out stark divisions 
along ethnic lines regarding the role of religion in daily 
life.  Malays identified much more strongly with their 
religion (Islam), compared to the other two ethnic groups. 
 
KUALA LUMP 00001913  002 OF 003 
 
 
Sixty-one percent of Malays considered themselves Muslim 
first, with only 28 percent identifying themselves first as 
Malaysians.  The Chinese put ethnicity first (47 percent), 
followed by nationality (44 percent) and religion (5 
percent).  Indians were the most nationalistic, with 75 
percent identifying themselves first as Malaysians, followed 
by their ethnic group (14 percent) and religion (5 percent). 
When asked whether they rely upon their religion when making 
major life decisions, 92 percent of Malays and 85 percent of 
Indians answered affirmatively, while only 37 percent of 
Chinese agreed.  Only 9 percent of Malays agreed that "it is 
not wrong for unmarried couples to hold hands in public 
places," compared with 96 percent of Chinese and 58 percent 
of Indians. 
 
¶5. (SBU) With regard to the connection between government and 
religion, only 3 percent of Malay respondents agreed that 
"government and religion should be kept separate," compared 
with 64 percent of Chinese and 47 percent of Indians. 
Thirty-four percent of Malays agreed that "government should 
increase the implementation of Islam by introducing hudud law 
for Muslims," compared with only 2 percent of Chinese and 0 
percent of Indian respondents.  (Note: hudud, or Islamic law 
encompassing criminal offenses, currently does not apply to 
any Malaysians; all citizens are subject to a secular 
criminal law system.)  Thirty percent of Malays hoped 
Malaysia would become "more Islamic," while that outcome was 
supported by 0 percent of Chinese and 4 percent of Indians. 
Only 31 percent of Malays agreed that "all cultures and 
religions should be given equal rights," compared with 61 
percent and 66 percent of Chinese and Indian respondents, 
respectively.  A majority of Malays (53 percent) stated that 
they would not accept a woman as prime minister, compared 
with only 11 percent of Chinese and 6 percent of Indians. 
 
Dismissive View of Politics 
--------------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) The survey included various questions that attempted 
to determine the greatest concerns of respondents, as well as 
their degree of awareness about local and global political 
affairs.  The young adults surveyed were primarily concerned 
with completing their education, advancing their careers and 
supporting their families.  According to the Merdeka Center, 
"only a handful" expressed concern about wider societal 
issues.  In its summary report about its survey, the Merdeka 
Center concluded that "a majority of youth tend to have a 
negative, cynical and dismissive view about politics."  The 
survey indicated that most of Malaysia's young adults remain 
disengaged from their political environment.  When asked how 
frequently they discuss "government policies and current 
issues" with friends, family members, school mates or 
colleagues, the most frequent responses were once per week 
(43 percent), once per month (26 percent), and rarely/never 
(17 percent).  Respondents placed high value on holding 
elections, but 41 percent would agree to eliminate elections 
if the government could guarantee "stability, peace and 
economic growth." 
 
Activities and Interests 
------------------------ 
 
¶7. (SBU) Malaysia's young adults, like those in many other 
nations, appear to focus largely on advancing their 
educations or careers, and pay significant attention to their 
families and home environment.  When asked an open-ended 
question about how they spend their free time, the young 
adults listed "stay at home" as their primary response (34 
percent), with "shopping complexes" (15 percent), "sports 
venues/fields" (6 percent), "scenic areas" (6 percent) and 
"go to town" (6 percent) as the next most popular responses. 
Favorite hobbies were reading (24 percent), sports (23 
percent), listening to music (9 percent), watching television 
or movies (8 percent), and fishing (6 percent).  Only 26 
percent have visited another country, with nearby Singapore 
the most common destination by far.  Fifty-three percent of 
respondents stated they have no access to the Internet, and 
only 15 percent said they accessed the Internet 6 or more 
times per week.  Mobile phone penetration was significantly 
higher, with 86 percent of respondents owning at least one of 
the devices. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶8. (C) Malaysia's controlled and often stolid political 
environment feeds and reinforces the high degree of political 
and civic disengagement noted by the survey.  In decisions 
dating back to the 1960s, Malay-dominated governments have 
eliminated local elections, maintained tight political 
content control over the country's mainstream media, banned 
 
KUALA LUMP 00001913  003 OF 003 
 
 
political activities at universities, maintained a pervasive 
political and economic patronage system that damages 
meritocracy-based advancement for non-Malays (refs A, B and 
C), and more recently warned Internet news providers of 
retaliation for publishing anti-government or religiously 
"sensitive" content.  Political openings in the post-Mahathir 
era, while positive, have not dramatically changed the 
situation.  This unique survey illustrates some of the 
underlying drivers of Malaysia's racial and religious 
tensions.  While those tensions appear to be growing, they 
still remain well under control by regional standards.  The 
survey highlighted the sharp inter-ethnic differences that 
work against the emergence in Malaysia of a large, 
multi-racial, multi-religious political party capable of 
challenging the status quo.  If, as the survey strongly 
indicates, the younger generation of Malaysians is so deeply 
divided along lines of race and religion, ethnic based 
politics will remain a dominant feature of Malaysia's 
political landscape for the foreseeable future. 
SHEAR