r/malaysia • u/hyattpotter Resident Unker • May 29 '20

Selamat Datang and Welcome /r/AskAnAmerican to our cultural exchange thread!

Hi folks, the cultural exchange has just wrapped up. Thank you so much to users from both subreddits for participating and creating such interesting discussions together!

Howdy American friends! Welcome, and you are encouraged to use our "United States of America" flair. Feel free to ask anything you like!

Hey /r/malaysia, today we are hosting our friends from /r/AskAnAmerican! Please come and join us and answer any questions they have about Malaysia! Please leave top comments for /r/AskAnAmerican users coming over with a question or comment about Malaysia.

As usual with all threads on /r/malaysia, please abide by reddiquette and our rules as stated in the sidebar.

Malaysians should head over to /r/AskAnAmerican to ask any questions about America, drop by this thread here.

We hope you have a great time, enjoy and terima kasih!

80 Upvotes

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9

u/pnew47 May 31 '20

Malaysians that are not Muslim, how much religious freedom do you really have? Do you feel that you are treated equal to the Muslim majority? How common is it for people to convert?

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u/Caninomancy Jun 01 '20 edited Jun 01 '20

i grew up being very lost in life. Have been leapfrogging between Buddhism, Christianity, and Catholicism. Ended up being an atheist once i have reached the age of enlightenment.

Didn't have to register my affiliation anywhere. i always put "lain-lain" (others) as my religion if it is a mandatory field.

9

u/icemountain87 Jun 01 '20

Malaysians that are not Muslim, how much religious freedom do you really have? Do you feel that you are treated equal to the Muslim majority?

I grew up Catholic. Broadly speaking, we are allowed to practice our religion in the privacy of our own homes or religious institutions without much restriction. However, the line is drawn at proselytizing Muslims which is strictly not allowed. At first glance, this seems straightforward. Don't try to convert or preach to Muslims and everything is fine and dandy.

Problem is when politicians try to earn brownie points from their conservative Muslim voter base by demonizing other religions that we are out to convert them or take over the country. Any random or obscure act can be labelled as proselytizing.

Take this relatively recent incident that happened in 2019 when a newly built apartment complex was testing it's lighting system and it happened to look like the shape of a cross at night which offended some Muslims. It sounds like something straight out of The Onion but shit like this does come up every now and then.

How common is it for people to convert?

Children of Muslim parents are born into the religion by default. Converting out of Islam is a sketchy issue and it is virtually impossible to do so without legal ramifications (Muslims are subjected to Shahriah laws). Conversion to Islam is not that common. Most who do so are converting for marriage. If you are marrying a Muslim, you are legally required to convert into the religion for the marriage to be recognized by the state (no such requirement for non-Muslim marriages).

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u/juliaisagirl Jun 01 '20

malaysia is unique in that the religious minority has more religious freedom than the muslim majority. Being a muslim is "non-permeable" so to speak, as in you can convert/be borned into a muslim but not out of it. The states views you as muslim for life and treats you as such (e.g forcing you to have a muslim burial).
Otherwise, the minority is free to practice whatever they like as long as the other laws are observed.
The benefits of being a muslim on the other hand is a whole other chapter.

10

u/AltruisticGate May 31 '20

Do you think KL is one of the more underrated major cities in Asia? Everyone always talks about Bangkok, Hong Kong, and Singapore.

15

u/[deleted] May 31 '20

For the West, yes. But Malaysia is one of the main destination for tourist from Japan, China and Middle East. Malaysia does not invest a lot in tourism unlike Singapore or Thailand but the ones that they've invested are mostly to cater people from these countries. They, mostly more than average in wealth spend a lot of money in Malaysia and that what makes tourism survives here, however low income tourist like backpackers does not see Malaysia as appealing as other countries in the region. Malaysia is not cheap but still inexpensive. Malaysia is a value for money, cheap does not mean good in certain goods or services.

Another point is Malaysia does not promote poverty porn, white tourist are certainly ignored by locals because we kinda earn and live the same as any major cities in the western part of the world. They are not special and not seem to be a money making opportunity for locals compared to the neighbouring region.

Final point, Malaysia is perceived as a conservative strict Muslim country that deters a lot of Western tourist, especially when it comes to alcohol and vice. However Malaysia have less stricter rules when it comes to alcohol consumption compared to Australia or USA and much lesser alcohol tax than Singapore. The chances you'll be fined for minor offences is comparably low as compared to Singapore. You'll not be hassle for Syariah law because first you are not a citizen and second you are not a Muslim. Syariah law mostly active when it comes to marriages and death because Malaysian Muslim need a Syariah court to settle the divorce, child custody and inheritance.

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u/frs-1122 May 31 '20

Yes. 100%. And as a Sabahan I want Kota Kinabalu to be talked more....

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u/Internsh1p May 31 '20

Was Laksa invented in Singapore or Malaysia?

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