Malaysia’s religious rhetoric still regressive, says academic

[superadmin]

PETALING JAYA: The religious rhetoric in Malaysia remains more regressive than progressive, according to an academic who warned more than two years ago that the country was slipping towards extremist tendencies.

Syed Farid Alatas, a Malaysian who serves as professor of sociology at the National University of Singapore, said there had been no improvement in the situation since September 2019, when he alleged that Malaysia was on a slippery slope to extremism following several crackdowns on Shia Muslims by Johor and Selangor religious authorities.

He said then that there was an urgent need to educate the young because changes could take one or two generations before becoming tangible.

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