Immigration policy

Malaysian New Economic Plan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

By 1970, there was a clear division of labour in the Malaysian economy. This division created a huge underclass of bumiputras (indigenous Malaysians), who were left behind in the recent economic development. Because of this, the Malaysian government implemented their “New Economic Policy” in 1971, which had the goal of redistributing the wealth to increase the ownership of enterprise by Malays from the then 4% to 30% of the total capital.

One of the main tools was the transfer of up to 30% ownership in Chinese-controlled businesses to Malay investors for a preferential price.

Surprisingly, the Chinese accepted this redistribution of wealth, although it costed them tons of money. This, according to the Chinese, was not a large price to pay in a country where they were allowed to run businesses with freedom, civil rights and wealth they were deprived of in China. It also helped protect the Chinese-Malaysians against ethnic tensions.

The first goal was the reduce poverty irrespective of ethnicity.

The second goal was to be achieved through the restructuring of employment and ownership of share capital in the corporate sector in order to give the bumipatras a larger share of the nations wealth.
As a result of NEP, the wealth in the hands of the bumiputras went from 4% in 1970 to about 20% in 1997. Although this shift in the distribution of wealth was not as dramatic as they intended, it helped increase national confidence, and likely prevented some socioethnic tensions. Now, Malaysia does not exhibit the same disparity of wealth that divides Indonesia along racial lines and creates such racial tension.

Click to expand...

Bumiputra (Sanskrit, translated literally, it means "princes of the Earth&quot is an official definition widely used in Malaysia. In Malaysia, the bumiputra laws are a form of affirmative action meant to provide more opportunity for the majority ethnic Malay population versus the historical financial dominance of the Malaysian Chinese population.

It is generally considered that all Malays are bumiputra and that all bumiputras are Malay. This is technically incorrect, as there are cases of non-Malays declared as bumiputra, and similarly of Malays (who are not Muslim) who are not considered bumiputra.
pi](Religious discrimination!)[/i]

This confusion is compounded by the fact that different ministries of the government may have different definitions themselves.

What is not obscure is that legally-based preferential racial bias for bumiputra is built into the Malaysian constitution.

In practice, racial policies were a consistent, even fundamental basis for the long regime of Mahathir bin Mohamad, 1981 - 2003, as laid out in his own book The Malay Dilemma (1970).

The Malaysian Federal Constitution has clauses specifically addressing this area. For example, article 153 states that:

"the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (The King of Malaysia) shall exercise his functions... in such a manner as may be necessary to safeguard the special position of the Malays... to ensure the reservation... of such proportion... in the public service... and of scholarships... and other similar educational... privileges or special facilities given... by the Federal Government".
The Constitution defines Malays as being one who "professes the religion of Islam, habitually speaks the Malay language, conforms to Malay custom".

Consequently, Orang Asli (the indigenous people of Peninsular Malaysia) are not considered for this "reservation of quotas".

Since 1970, bumiputras have enjoyed numerous legal and economic advantages in Malaysia, including admission to college, positions in government and ownership in business.

The legal and economic advantages were intended to reduce the economic dominance that was traditionally held by ethnic Chinese and Indians.

Some argue that the advantages afforded to bumiputras are said to border on outright racism.

For example, it is required that a certain percentage of stock in a publicly traded company must be owned by bumiputras, opening possible abuses by both Malays and non-Malays.

Bumiputras are also traditionally charged less for purchases of real estate property compared to those of other races in Malaysia.

However, others argue that the legal and economic advantages were necessary for Malaysia to reduce ethnic conflict and insure that economic opportunity in Malaysia was evenly distributed.

Click to expand...

Religious Demography
Malaysia country has a total area of approximately 127,000 square miles, and a population of just over 23 million. According to government census figures, in 2000 approximately 60.4 percent of the population were Muslim; 19.2 percent practiced Buddhism; 9.1 percent Christianity; 6.3 percent Hinduism; and 2.6 percent Confucianism, Taoism, and other traditional Chinese religions.

Non-Muslims are concentrated in East Malaysia, major urban centers, and other areas.

Click to expand...

Status of Religious Freedom

In September 2001, the then Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad declared that the country was an Islamic state (negara Islam). Government funds support an Islamic religious establishment (the Government also grants limited funds to non-Islamic religious communities), and it is official policy to "infuse Islamic values" into the administration of the country.

Adherence to Islam is considered intrinsic to Malay ethnic identity, and therefore Islamic religious laws bind ethnic Malays.

For Muslim children, religious education according to a government-approved curriculum is compulsory in public schools. There are no restrictions on home instruction.

Click to expand...

Restrictions on Religious Freedom

[b[Muslims who wish to convert from Islam face severe obstacles.[/b] For Muslims, particularly ethnic Malays, the right to leave the Islamic faith and adhere to another religion is a controversial question, and in practice it is very difficult for Muslims to change religions.

The legal process of conversion is unclear; in practice it is very difficult for Muslims to change their religion legally.

In 1999 the High Court ruled that secular courts have no jurisdiction to hear applications by Muslims to change religions. According to the ruling, the religious conversion of Muslims lies solely within the jurisdiction of Islamic courts.

In April 2001, a High Court judge rejected the application of a Malay woman who argued that she had converted to Christianity, and requested that the term "Islam" be removed from her identity card.

The judge ruled that an ethnic Malay is defined by the federal Constitution as "a person who professes the religion of Islam." The judge also reaffirmed the 1999 High Court ruling and stated that only an Islamic court has jurisdiction to rule on the woman’s supposed renunciation of Islam and conversion to Christianity. The ruling makes conversion of Muslims nearly impossible in practice.

The issue of Muslim apostasy is very sensitive.

In 1998 after a controversial incident of attempted conversion, the Government stated that apostates (i.e., Muslims who wish to leave or have left Islam for another religion) would not face government punishment so long as they did not defame Islam after their conversion.

In April 2000, the state of Perlis passed a Shari’a law subjecting Islamic "deviants" and apostates to 1 year of "rehabilitation" (under the Constitution, religion, including Shari’a law, is a state government matter).

Leaders of the opposition Islamic Party have stated that the penalty for apostasy should be death.

In June 2000, the Government announced that all Muslim civil servants must attend religious classes, but only Islamic classes are conducted. In addition, only teachers approved by the Government are employed.

Proselytizing of Muslims by members of other religions is prohibited strictly, although proselytizing of non-Muslims faces no obstacles.

The Government discourages--and in practical terms forbids--the circulation in peninsular Malaysia of Malay-language translations of the Bible and distribution of Christian tapes and printed materials in Malay.

The Government generally respects non-Muslims' right of worship; however, state governments carefully control the building of non-Muslim places of worship and the allocation of land for non-Muslim cemeteries.

Approvals for such permits sometimes are granted very slowly. After a violent conflict in Penang between Hindus and Muslims in March 1998, the Government announced a nationwide review of unlicensed Hindu temples and shrines.

In family and religious matters, all Muslims are subject to Shari'a law. According to some women's rights activists, women are subject to discriminatory interpretations of Shari'a law and inconsistent application of the law from state to state.

In February 2002, the pro-opposition Council of Ulamas submitted a memorandum to the Conference of Rulers urging action against six academics who it alleged had belittled the Prophet and humiliated Islam in their writings. The Council of Rulers referred the memorandum to the National Council on Islamic Religious Affairs.

Click to expand...

Abuses of Religious Freedom

In November 2000, the Shari’a High Court in the state of Kelantan, which is controlled by the Islamic opposition party, sentenced four persons to 3 years in prison for disregarding a lower court order to recant their alleged heretical beliefs and "return to the true teachings of Islam." The High Court rejected their argument that Shari’a law has no jurisdiction over them because they had ceased to be Muslims.

Due to the definition of a Malay as being one who professes to be Muslim(among other things), those Malays who do manage to convert to another religion are automatically discriminated against economically, due to the Bumiputra policy.

Source: US Dept. of State www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/i.../13899.htm

Click to expand...