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Young Malays Reject Equal Rights: “We Need Our Privileges”
Story by Fernando Fong• 2d
Young Malays Reject Equal Rights: “We Need Our Privileges”
In a revealing snapshot of Malaysia’s racial divide, 73% of young Malays have voted to maintain their special privileges – effectively endorsing unequal treatment of their fellow citizens in a country where they form 60% of the 32 million population.
The Merdeka Center’s recent survey of 1,605 young people aged 18 to 30 lays bare an uncomfortable truth.
While respondents across all ethnicities were evenly split on equal rights, with 48% supporting equality and 49% favouring special privileges, the breakdown among Malay respondents tells a different story.
An overwhelming 73% backed continuing bumiputera privileges, with only 24% supporting equal rights for all Malaysians.
Defending Inequality
“I wouldn’t be where I am without bumiputera rights,” says Aidil Azmady, 23, an engineering student at Universiti Kuala Lumpur Malaysia France Institute (UniKL MFI).
Living in Bangi, Selangor, a Malay-majority enclave near Kuala Lumpur, Aidil has few friends from other races and views these special privileges as “citizen’s rights” that should be maintained.
“I studied in a private college before – the fees are not affordable for Malay students,” he said.
In the northern state of Kedah, 30-year-old padi farmer Syakir Hamzah offers another perspective from rural Malaysia.
Working his family’s one-hectare rice field on Malay reserve land, he earns barely RM950 monthly.
For him, these privileges aren’t about advantage but survival.
His land, protected by affirmative action policies, has been in his family for generations.
Privilege By Design
This stance effectively endorses a system where university admissions, housing rates, government positions, and business opportunities are allocated based on ethnicity rather than merit.
While defenders frame it as protection for disadvantaged communities, critics see it as institutionalized inequality that divides modern Malaysia.
The survey findings appear to reflect deeper concerns about economic security and cultural heritage rather than racial prejudice.
Young Malays consistently express concern about maintaining Bumiputera representation and protecting disadvantaged members of their community.
However, after over half a century of affirmative action, the policy’s effectiveness remains questionable.
Nationwide Sentiment
From Melaka, where over 70% of the population is Malay/Muslim, to the bustling streets of Kuala Lumpur, where diverse communities intersect, the sentiment remains surprisingly consistent among young Malays.
Their strong support for continued privileges suggests Malaysia’s racial divide may persist well into the future, even as the country aspires to compete in an increasingly merit-based global economy.
The findings present a challenging paradox for Malaysia’s future: how can a nation progress while its majority youth population actively supports unequal treatment based on ethnicity?
As one young respondent put it, these privileges are seen as “birthright” – a perspective that raises serious questions about Malaysia’s path toward true economic competitiveness and social cohesion.
Please do not say I am racist, because I am not.
