What is going on in Malaysia?

After almost 4 months in Malaysia in the next posts I would like to tell you a little bit more about the different people in this fantastic country. I would like to tell you about the people based on where they live, what they think, what music they listen to, what their religion is, how they brush their teeth, even what their social class might be or what urban group they belong to, but unfortunately I will devide my posts by their family history, also called race. I see no mobility so here I go! Later on I will go back to individuals, but I thought it would be interesting to give you an outlook on the situation here.

Introduction

Here's 2 extracts from I am muslim by Dina Zaman.

 "What is happening to this country? Heads of old chinese men are shaved over some harmless Gong Xi Fa Cai fun, non-muslims protest dress codes, people fight over loudspeaker volume for azan (call to prayers), and churches and temples are being demolished. God, we live in a circus. Around the city I see young people increasingly congregating by race. Young Malay kids on one side, trendy Chinese kids whooping it up on the other and Indian teenagers speaking Ebonics and wearing winter clothes in the tropical heat. My sister, who is a teacher, tells me it is the same in schools whether amongst students or teachers... the modern, progressive, wealthy Malaysia."

A few pages later in the same chapter...

Photo from In the name of search

"This my be due to the misguided perception (in Malaysia) that Muslims don't mingle with non-Muslims. That those who do so come from urban families, go to good universities at home or abroad, and have good jobs, ergo, they are liberal Muslims. And progressive Muslims don't adhere to rituals.
I see plenty of "mingling" in Terengganu and Kelantan. The Chinese in Terengganu speak the local dialect fluently and aren't seen as "the other" Maybe I only see what I want. Maybe, I am too idealistic."


Here's a blog that disagrees with me: http://freemahesa.blogspot.com/2011/12/malaysians-are-not-racists-trust-me.html

Here's the rest of my posts: Chinese community, Malay community, Indian community and what they have in common.