Malaysia's rental racism problem: How bad is it, and what are the ways to fix it?
Malaysia has several laws to protect interracial harmony as well as policies on ethnic integration. However, landlord-tenant dealings have never been covered.
Yahoo Malaysia
Mon, 9 October 2023 at 12:45 am GMT+1·4-min read
Renting a house in Malaysia
By QISHIN TARIQ
Malaysia takes pride in being a cultural melting pot, where one can find Malays, Chinese, Indians, Orang Asli (natives) and many other ethnic groups generally living together in peace and harmony. But housing a multicultural society can bring with it numerous challenges.
One of these challenges is rental racism, the discriminatory practice of refusing a tenant or demanding a higher rent rate based on their race.
In fact, the prevalence of the issue was once more brought to the fore after a newly wedded couple highlighted their plight last month on news platform, Free Malaysia Today.
Now, granted, Malaysia has several laws to protect interracial harmony as well as policies on ethnic integration. However, landlord-tenant dealings have never been covered. This, despite the promises of politicians and the situation persisting.
Tenancy woes
"Malaysian landlords can be quite overt in their discrimination. For example, online rental notices often explicitly state the gender and racial preference for potential tenants, and in some cases outright say 'no Indians wanted'," said Ron Jeyathurai, who has lived and worked in the Klang Valley for more than 15 years now."Homeowners have also been known to ask tenants if they can afford the rent, or insist on an additional security deposit."
Yet the most shocking and traumatic experience he was on the receiving end of, Jeyathurai said, came courtesy of one landlord who demanded he obtain a certificate of good conduct from the police; the kind of which is sometimes required for visa applicants.
The reason for this? Simply that the potential tenant was Indian.
To be clear, the discrimination is not always so apparent.
Indeed, UX writer L. Suganya says that post-COVID-19, incidents of racism in the housing market tend to be a little more discreet and couched in seemingly innocent language.
Nevertheless, it doesn't make things any better.
"I've had agents tell me their tenant doesn't mean to be racist, and just had a bad experience before," she said. "But letting a bad experience paint one's perception of an entire group is textbook racism."
However, Suganya noted that discrimination does not exist everywhere in the rental market in Malaysia, and that in certain locations, renting can be relatively painless.
"Hearing that I work at a bank also makes it easier," she added.
Still, the problem is far from settled. And with foreign nationals reportedly also being discriminated against and worse, scammed, the general consensus is that something must be done, and done quickly.
Many point to the need for the long-awaited Residential Tenancy Act (RTA). But is the RTA the solution?
What is the Residential Tenancy Act?
First mooted by former housing and local government minister Zuraida Kamaruddin in 2019, the idea had been for the RTA to bring together various housing laws, control rental rates, and establish a tribunal to settle disputes.It was also, importantly, focused on ending discriminatory rental policies.
Regrettably, not only has the law never made it out of the drafting stage, thanks to various remarks by the people in charge, it is now unclear what the RTA — if and when it is finally tabled and passed — will actually cover.
To Ryan Chua, programme director of anti-discrimination non-governmental organisation organisation Pusat KOMAS, in any case, there is no time to waste, especially with the "Malaysian housing market becoming increasingly racist and xenophobic".
"Pusat KOMAS has recorded (numerous) incidents of rental racism happening on a communal level, like apartments hanging banners rejecting certain ethnicities and neighbours pressuring others not to rent to 'unwanted groups'. So, if the RTA doesn't have explicit clauses against discrimination, it will do little to reverse the status quo," Chua said.
But while it is vital to look to other countries and territories in drafting the law, what is also necessary, Chua noted, is to recognise that not all discriminatory policies will work here in Malaysia.
Among the legal frameworks that can fit the Malaysian landscape are the United States' Fair Housing Act 1968, which prohibits discrimination by providers of housing. The act prohibits discrimination based on race, religion, and national origin, and was expanded in 1974 to include gender, and was again expanded in 1988 to protect people with disabilities and families with children.
Another alternative could be the United Kingdom's Equality Act 2010, which includes various anti-discrimination provisions for protected characteristics, like race, language, religion and many more.
Whatever system is chosen however, one thing that the government must include is a tribunal system.
"People don't have the time and money to fight for years in court to get a home. Shelter is a human right and shouldn't be a stressful thing to get," Chua says.
Hence, it's important that tenants have an avenue to challenge landlords outside of the courts on all manner of disputes, and especially, discriminatory practices.
