Sharp increase in racism incidents in 2021, says rights group

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PETALING JAYA: There has been an increase in incidents of racism, racial discrimination and xenophobia in Malaysia, according to a study by the rights group Pusat Komas.

According to the report titled “Malaysia Racial Discrimination Report 2021”, the number of incidents more than doubled from 21 in 2020 to 53 in 2021.

Of the incidents reported last year, the largest percentage involved racial and religious politics (28%), followed by racial and religious provocation (23%), xenophobia (13%), racial discrimination in the education sector (11%), racism in other sectors (11%), racism in the media and internet (8%), and racial discrimination in the business sector (6%).

The group listed all 53 incidents of racism, racial discrimination and xenophobia in the report.

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Racial discrimination on the rise

Amid all the political noise, the “Malaysia Racial Discrimination Report 2021” released by rights NGO Pusat Komas last week went almost unnoticed.

When I began reading the report, I was on the verge of feeling despondent but some bits of information towards the end lifted me up.

First, as they say, the bad news. According to Pusat Komas the number of incidents of racial discrimination and racism more than doubled from 21 in 2020 to 53 in 2021.

We all know that racial discrimination exists although most people don’t talk about it openly either because they fear being prosecuted under one of the many preventive laws or the the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, or because it is not the Asian or Malaysian way.

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