ONLY BORN-IN-MALAYSIA CITIZENS & CAN SPEAK NATIONAL LANGUAGE ARE REAL MALAYSIANS – SURVEY

AN international survey has found that 74% of Malaysians consider only native-born citizens as “real” Malaysians, holding a different view of immigrants who have obtained citizenship.

French independent market research company Ipsos also found that fluency in Bahasa Malaysia is key to being regarded as a “real” Malaysian.

Naturalised citizens who are fluent in Bahasa Malaysia were regarded as “real” nationals by 33% of Malaysians, while only 6% of those surveyed held the same opinion of a naturalised citizen who is not fluent in the national language.

The online survey, conducted in 27 countries between April and May, showed that Malaysia was among the top three nations with respondents who considered themselves as “real” nationals of their respective countries, at 92%.

“While the self-perception of themselves as being ‘real’ Malaysians is high, Malaysians tend to be less positive towards others around them,” said Ipsos Malaysia managing director Arun Menon in a statement today.

“They hold much less positive views of naturalised citizens, native-born children of immigrants, lifelong immigrants who don’t become citizens, and illegal immigrants who have lived here most of their lives.”

A majority of respondents from 13 countries – including three-quarters in the US, and two-thirds in Canada and Australia – were of the view that an immigrant who has become a citizen of a country is a “real” national. On the other hand, 23% of Malaysians polled disagreed, followed by those in Hungary (21%) and Serbia (22%).

Menon said Malaysians are of the opinion that the country of origin and being born in Malaysia are more important than any other factor in identifying a person as a “real” Malaysian.

“This is clearly seen in the big percentage difference in perception of who they see as ‘real’ nationals when comparing between native-born children of immigrants and children of expatriates. However, this also tells us that Malaysians do not take the matter of citizenship lightly.

“They want immigrants to work hard, and there should be no shortcuts to being a ‘real’ Malaysian, whether by birthright or for convenience.”

Malaysia is among six countries – the others being Serbia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, China and Japan – where those polled held the view that children of expatriates are more likely to be seen as “real” nationals than native-born children of naturalised citizens.

Just under half – 48% – of adults from 25 countries viewed an immigrant who has become a citizen as a “real” national, 31% did not think such a person is a “real” national and 21% were unsure.

Legal and Undocumented Non-Citizens Malaysia has one of the least positive views on immigrants being considered as “real” Malaysians.

Legal immigrants who have lived in Malaysia most of their lives, but have not become citizens, are least likely to be considered as “real” nationals, with only 15% of Malaysians expressing this view. In comparison, the average global percentage is 31%.

Illegal immigrants who have lived in the country most of their lives are least likely to be considered as “real” nationals in Malaysia and Japan, with merely 6% of respondents disagreeing with the view.

– https://www.themalaysianinsight.com