All to school
Malaysian children have to go to school from the age of 6, although many of them attend private kindergartens from the age of 4. Education is free and compulsory during the 6 years of primary school and 5 years of secondary school. Schooling is sanctioned by a certificate of study, the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM), at the end of these 11 years of study. Students who wish to complete their education with secondary education must undertake a paid preparatory course of study lasting between 1 and 2 years, depending on the chosen course. Higher education can be undertaken at public or private universities or specialized training schools, which are always fee-paying. On paper, the education system is egalitarian and open. It guarantees a base of knowledge for all Malaysian children. In reality, community segregation starts at school. Public schools are mainly attended by Malaysians. The Chinese have created their own network of schools, often at a level often considered much higher than that of public schools. Mandarin is taught systematically, and 95 per cent of Chinese children attend school there, even though the school-leaving certificate is not recognized by the government. As a result, students in Chinese schools were denied access to public universities and colleges. Many of these young Chinese Malaysians go abroad to pursue higher education and rarely return home. Still, 50 per cent of them want to leave Malaysia and pursue a career abroad. Indians also have a few private institutions, especially in the big cities. Children from the higher social classes attend international schools, with schooling ranging from MYR 4,000 to MYR 115,000 per year. With an average salary of just under 3,000 ringgits, providing a good education for one's children can be a real sacrifice for the parents.
Cleavage around work
The world of work also crystallizes community tensions. The Malays blame the Chinese for dominating the business world and having a much higher standard of living. At the time of independence in 1957, the Malays were mainly farmers. The Chinese, on the other hand, had sided with the British settlers and were actively involved in the economic development of the country. In order to level the income gap between the communities, the government enshrined the concept of "Bumiputra" in its Constitution, which affirmatively discriminated in favour of the Malay and Aboriginal populations. This includes administrative positions, loan facilities, scholarships, preferential status for businesses in public tenders, automatic discounts on the purchase of property, etc. There are many special rights. In 1971, an ambitious economic development plan was launched to allow Bumiputras to own 30% of the companies, when they were only 2.4%. Through this, the government hoped to reduce poverty, accelerate the country's economic development and put an end to tensions between communities. This 20-year plan has not achieved all its objectives. The Bumiputras held only 21.9 per cent of the overall economy in 2008, but poverty had fallen by 47 percentage points to 5 per cent of the population. In general, it can be said that Malays are present in all sectors of the economy, although they are still in the vast majority in the agricultural sector. The Chinese dominate the industrial and service sectors. Indians, on the other hand, are mainly employed in administrative positions (education, health), but they are also among the poorest workers with low-skilled jobs. The Chinese have a reputation for hard work and for not taking the 26 days off that Malaysians are entitled to annually. They set their ambition very high and it is no coincidence that 11 of Malaysia's 13 billionaires are of Chinese origin. But their appetite for financial success often comes at the expense of the family.
The family, at the center of social life
The family cocoon is undoubtedly the subject that brings all Malaysians together. Social success cannot be complete without marriage and children. As in France, Malaysians marry after finishing their studies and once they enter the workforce. Men are on average 28 years old and women 25.7 years old on the day they put the ring on their finger. The tradition of marriage is, of course, defined by the religion practised. Inter-community marriages are the exception, although there have been a few marriages between Malays and Indians of the Muslim faith. On the other hand, the birth rate is declining alarmingly. It was 6 children per household in 1963 and is now painfully low at 1.9 children. The rate of population renewal is no longer assured and the population is ageing.
It is on the occasion of calendar or occasional celebrations that the Malay people gather as a family in their original kampung. You won't find a Malay in town on the occasion of the Eid festival which celebrates the end of Ramadan. The kampung villagers are considered the guardians of the customs and traditions of the Malay community. They are also the pillars of the family, in the broadest sense. Wherever possible, the Indians perpetuate the tradition of the family clan. The new wife joins her husband's family and becomes responsible for the good running of the household. There are grandparents, sons and daughters-in-law, and children under the same roof. The Chinese have humorously given themselves the nickname "banana" which sums up the situation well: yellow outside and white inside. They live closer to the Western way of life. For example, the traditional red wedding dress is abandoned in favour of voluminous dresses in bright white. They concentrate their efforts on their professional life, and the family can wait. So much so that a local Chinese party has organized a dating club in the hope of fostering love stories that could lead to the birth of children.The difficulty of being a woman in Malaysia
For a long time dominated and confined to domestic tasks, Malaysian women gradually emancipated themselves. Today, 66 per cent of girls have higher education and 47 per cent of employees are women. However, they are still under strong social pressure. However, the Government had established a Ministry of Women's Affairs in 2001. Its mission is to promote the integration of women into society and reduce inequalities. Numerous actions are being taken to guarantee them greater security, particularly in the cities. Pink carriages or buses are reserved for women on public transport, and in 2011 Kuala Lumpur will have an all-female taxi service, from drivers to passengers. Domestic violence is one of the social issues that regularly dominates the headlines. Although marital rape became illegal in 2007, under Islamic family law a woman must obey her husband. This obligation opens the door to many abuses. 39 per cent of Malaysian women over the age of 15 admit to having been abused by their partners. The Penal Code still allows women to file a complaint against their husbands in cases of physical violence or threats. Malaysian women in particular are the furthest from emancipation. As Muslims, they enjoy fewer rights than their sisters of Chinese or Indian origin. They do not have the right to ask for divorce and their husbands can have up to 4 wives. Genital mutilation is widely practiced. The Malaysian National Council for Religious Affairs issued a fatwa in 2009 making excision compulsory, even though "the painful practice must be avoided"(sic). Ninety per cent of Malaysian women of the Muslim faith have their clitoris partially removed. The practice is maintained out of religious obligation, but also because of an unshakeable belief base: it would be more hygienic and would make it possible to avoid premarital sex.
No future for LGBTQ people
Sex and everything related to it are among the most taboo subjects. The fault lies with religion, but also with the British prudery in force during the colonial period. Sodomy and fellatio are enshrined in the Penal Code and severely punished by law in the name of a strange British heritage. What could pass for an eminently intimate trivial matter can have sordid consequences. Former opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim was sentenced to five years in prison in 2015 for sodomy. This law is also regularly brandished against gay male activists. Same-sex relations are prohibited by federal law and by some states of the country applying Sharia law. Transgender people are equally concerned, but on the basis of other laws. When they are arbitrarily arrested, it is for public indecency (federal law) or for cross-dressing (Islamic law). It is in Kuala Lumpur that the struggle for the acceptance of members of the LGBTQ community is played out. The capital is more open and is home to some gay and transgender rights groups, including Justice For Sisters led by transgender Nisha Ayub. The members of these associations are not so much subject to popular vindictiveness, or even manhunting, as can happen elsewhere in the country, sometimes under the watchful eye of the authorities. In 1994, a militia in Selangor State had pursued and led to the arrest of 7,000 people suspected of homosexuality. The militiamen were publicly commended a year later by the Minister of Religious Affairs. In May 2019, police raided a gay bar in Kuala Lumpur. No politician has yet taken up the case in the hope of changing the very precarious situation of this community. Some politicians are content to make occasional statements in response to news reports. A study by the Pew Research Centre found that 86 per cent of Malaysians were against the decriminalization of homosexuality. The rainbow flag is not about to fly in Merdeka Square.
