A report published by the Malaysian civil society organisation (Pusat KOMAS) under the title "2023 Malaysian Racism Report" has disclosed that Malaysia experienced 50 cases of racism last year. Former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad and PAS President Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang were each implicated in four of these cases. Their frequent remarks on racial and religious politics have become one of the nation's most closely followed topics.

During the report's release today, Dr. Ryan Yumin Chua, Project Director of the Pusat KOMAS, noted a decrease in the number of reported cases of racial discrimination, prejudice, and xenophobia in 2023 compared to 2022, dropping from 82 to 50.

"The majority of cases were linked to racial and religious politics (31.4%); racial and religious bias, provocation, and incitement (17.6%); racial and religious discrimination in education (9.8%); racial and religious discrimination in sports (7.8%); racialism, racial and religious discriminatory policies (7.8%); other forms of racial discrimination (13.7%), and xenophobia (11.8%)."

Among these, the most prevalent were incidents related to racial and religious politics (15 cases), with Mahathir and Hadi Awang each involved in four, while leaders from various parties in the Perikatan Nasional coalition were implicated in five cases.

The report also underscored the consistent dominance of racial and religious political events in the country over the past nine years.

"Politicians frequently exploit racial and religious tensions to maintain power. The age-old notion of 'voting for our race so they prioritize our needs' is deeply entrenched. Additionally, fear is a common strategy employed by politicians to retain party followers and divert them away from political opponents through misleading remarks."

Furthermore, racialism, racial discrimination, and xenophobia persist in other areas.

"Although there has been a decrease in the total number of reported cases compared to 2022, there has been an increase in incidents reported in other areas (provocation, education, xenophobia, and other fields)."

The release of the report was attended by board members Jerald Joseph and Dina Zaman, co-founder of Iman Research.

Disclaimer: Our intention is not to provoke religious conflict, but rather to promote racial harmony and understanding.

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