Survey: Race hardly matters to younger Malaysians

Centre For A Better Tomorrow (Cenbet) survey shows that younger Malaysians feel merit is more important than race when it comes to awarding projects or hiring staff.

PETALING JAYA: While younger Malaysians are less race conscious than the older generation, those aged between 18 and 25 fear a racial clash will occur soon, reveals a survey.

In the study by the Centre For A Better Tomorrow (Cenbet), those in the 18-25-year-old age bracket said they were colour blind when it came to voting, buying properties and socialising.

The younger generation, the survey noted, also felt that merit was more important than race when it came to awarding a project, hiring new staff and choosing service providers or sales assistants.

“They were also among the most comfortable if a close relative brought a partner from a different race to a family gathering,” Cenbet director Gan Ping Sieu said.

In fact, the group claimed they were “extremely comfortable” or “relatively comfortable” about it, he said at a press conference to announce the findings.

The survey, commissioned by Cenbet, interviewed 1,056 Malaysians in Peninsular Malaysia. About 76% of the respondents were from urban areas and the remaining 24% from rural areas.

Younger Malays, it was also revealed, were more open to the idea of having a non-Malay prime minister.

However, Malaysia’s Gen Y (born in the early 1980s to around 2000) felt that a racial clash was imminent at the rate racial-religious issues were coming to the fore.

Almost half (49%) in the 18-25 age bracket thought there was a possibility of a racial riot soon, compared with 31% of those aged 56 and above.

Gen Y respondents appeared to be more open about race relations. Despite this, some 40% of those in the 18-25 age group admitted to being “racist” or “have shades of racism”.

“Interestingly, respondents also thought there is a strong link between racist tendencies and religious convictions.

“Overall, most of the respondents associate racism with discrimination in terms of ‘religious beliefs’, followed by ‘culture, customs and language’.”