Malaysia

Melanie Siaw stopped by after an Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP) Cultures of Justice and Peace Workshop outside of Chitwan, Nepal in November, 2018. After meeting Nadine Hoover and other workshop facilitators, she decided to attend the Regional Justice and Peace Workshop held in Pati, Central Java in January, 2019. Her experience of a powerful transformation at the workshop made her realize that she had to bring the workshop to Malaysia. Within months, she invited Kins Aparece from Friends Peace Teams, Philippines to co-facilitate in the first AVP Cultures of Justice and Peace Workshop in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in July, 2019.

What We Do

To create an enduring Culture of Justice and Peace in Malaysia, the various ethnic groups have to heal from trauma in order to end violence in themselves and others. This work begins with individuals. As such, we actively reach out to local and migrant communities to share skills and tools to create just, peaceful homes, schools, workplaces, and community spaces through:

Friendship building and community visitation
AVP workshop with special topics on Cultures of Justice and Peace
Power of Goodness (POG) events

In our road map for resolving conflict between community members or among different communities, we begin with building friendships. The AVP for justice and peace workshop and POG event prepare safe and respectful spaces for individuals to encounter people from different cultural, religious or sociopolitical backgrounds. Through these encounters, friendships flourish and open hearts and minds to practice peace together. And so peace is felt and witnessed personally and in relationships with each other during workshop and event. Encountering different people also contradicts ethnocentricism in which individuals view other ethnic groups or cultures negatively, a trait that increases their vulnerability to committing violent extremism.

However, sometimes it’s difficult to get support to organize and facilitate these workshop and event in the community. This may lead to working with small groups who lack diversity. People are too busy or distracted with daily living to participate in activities that could transform their lives and communities.

Melanie Siaw actively builds friendships when she visits communities engaged in justice and peace work such as the Archdiocesan Commission for the Pastoral Care of Migrants & Itinerant People, Caritas Kota Kinabalu, the Filipino migrant group, Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Conception sisters and Partners of Community Organizations in Sabah. She also visits people from Caritas Malaysia, North South Initiative, Samaritan Hope Home and indigenous communities in the Peninsula. She deepens friendships by being curious about people’s life and their justice and peace work as well as caring for their well being. She also mentors and supports several apprentice facilitators for AVP and POG through online training and team building sessions.

Context

Malaysia is a country in South East Asia. It includes the Peninsula on the South of Thailand as well as Sabah and Sarawak across the South China Sea on the north side of Borneo Island. The Peninsula (known earlier as Malaya) was colonized for almost 450 years by the Portuguese (1511-1641), then the Dutch (1641-1786), and finally the British (1786-1957). It gained independence in 1957. Sabah was colonized by the British (1882-1963) as was Sarawak (1946-1963).

The Federation of Malaysia was formed with Sabah, Sarawak, Singapore, and Peninsular Malaysia in 1963. Singapore became an independent republic in 1965. In 1963, the Malaysia Agreement formed the Federation in which Sabah and Sarawak had autonomy and equal status as Peninsular Malaysia. Over the decades, erosion of their autonomy and status through amendments in the constitution and political manipulation has led to the marginalization of indigenous peoples, inequitable distribution of resources, underdevelopment, meddling of the federal government in state affairs, and enforcement of the Peninsula political model to uphold the supremacy of the dominant ethnic group and religion of the Peninsula.

The Population

Malaysia is home to 30.5 million citizens (2023) of diverse backgrounds: 58.0% Malay, 22.6% Chinese, 12.1% Indigenous, 6.6% Indian and 0.7% other ethnic groups. The Malay, Chinese, and Indian ethnic groups mainly reside in the Peninsula. Sabah and Sarawak have the largest proportion of indigenous ethnic groups. While Islam is recognized as the official religion of the Peninsula, Sabah and Sarawak never held Islam as their primary religion. They are very different from the Peninsula in terms of demography, culture, language, and colonial history.

Marginalized People

In South East Asia, Malaysia is one of the largest migrant-receiving countries in the region, with 2.2 million documented migrant workers and 1.2 to 3.5 million undocumented or irregular migrants (2022). In addition, Malaysia is host to an estimated 1 million stateless persons, with the highest number in Sabah, and over 180,000 refugees and asylum-seekers, with the majority from Myanmar, primarily Rohingya and Chin, and others from Pakistan, Yemen, Syria, Somalia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Sri Lanka, among others. While refugees and asylum-seekers are continually fleeing to Malaysia for safety, this country is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention or its Protocol. There is currently no legislative or administrative framework that protects refugees or asylum seekers. As such, refugees and asylum seekers, undocumented or irregular migrants, and stateless persons do not have authorization to work or free access to health care or public education. They also face detention and deportation if arrested by immigration authorities.

Education and Social Interaction

Malaysia’s public education system is divided according to the main languages for classroom instruction such as Malay, Mandarin, and Tamil languages, from pre-school education to post secondary education. Although the schools are open to all ethnic groups, the Malay, Chinese, and Indian communities prefer to send their children to schools that use their mother tongue as the language of instruction. In urban areas particularly on the Peninsula, neighborly spirit and the culture of visitation during festive seasons have become less prominent. Social interactions among different ethnic groups have reduced. At times, lack of diversity in certain residential areas and workplaces has led to people socializing only within their own ethnic group thus creating geographic isolation within the population. As a result, children, youths and adults have fewer opportunities to interact with different ethnic groups.

Political Tensions

Over the years, efforts to build a country that embraces a plural society as envisaged by Malaysia’s founding fathers have weakened. Prejudice and discrimination have intensified with a rise in conservatism, nationalism and supremacy of the dominant Peninsular ethnic groups and religion. Following the riot on 13 May 1969 on the Peninsula, the late Prof Emeritus Datuk Dr Khoo Kay Kim stated, “After 1969, we became vulnerable. Each race is told that it is somebody else’s fault. We expect our leaders to play a part in defusing tensions, but instead there are many who thrive on constantly fuelling the fears of the people.” In the Peninsula, most of the left-, center- and right-wing political parties exploit these fears among the different ethnic groups to gain votes during elections. Thus they perpetuate distrust and division among people.

Social Media

The structures of social media platforms enable ease of spreading disinformation, fake news and misinformation and reward rapid sharing of information. In recent years, rumors about specific groups of people which spread like wildfire through social media, escalated to aggressive exchanges and violent conflicts. Today, many young people rely on social media to get news. They might be easily swayed by trending news on social media but they are largely indifferent to social issues as news of these issues are not popping up in their social media feed regularly.

Violent Extremism

Since 2013, Malaysia has had more than 430 terror-related arrests and the foiling of over 30 terror plots. An estimated 100 Malaysians have traveled to Syria and Iraq to join the Islamic State and war. While the threat of home-grown violent extremists is rising, Malaysia also faces the threat of external violent extremists from neighboring countries such as Southern Thailand, Southern Philippines, and Indonesia. Violent extremist organizations in these countries have been actively radicalizing and recruiting Malaysians, especially in migrant communities. These organizations use Malaysia as a staging area to plan and coordinate attacks. Malaysia also serves as a transit hub and conduit for the transportation of weapons, operatives, finances, and supporters to other regional and global terrorist organizations. Today, radicalization and recruitment to violence remain a significant risk in Malaysia.