Malaysia prides itself on a unique pluralistic society comprising members from diverse ethnic and religious backgrounds. This peaceful coexistence and integration is possible due to the high level of compromise and tolerance between all ethnic and religious groups. While there have been dark moments that threatened the hard-won peace (such as the violent riots of...
Hate speech plays a role in polarising society as it can lead to intolerant actions between groups of people. This is especially dangerous in Malaysia, where race and religion are often politicised by political and religious actors for political or personal gain. Things are also getting worse; following the 2018 general election, a spike of...
The spread of global terrorism from Islamist terror groups like Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) and Daesh/ Islamic State (IS) has arrived at the doorsteps of Malaysian campuses to radicalise and recruit the youths by exploiting their passion, curiosity, and anger about the world, religion, and injustices. Despite the collapse of their movement, their ideologies and networks...
The mandate to develop the National Action Plan on Prevention and Counter Violent Extremism (NAPPCVE) is derived from the United Nations General Assembly 70/674 in 2015 to address the changing threats of violent extremism. Many countries have come up with their own action plans, among them Indonesia (2020-2024) and Kenya (2020-2024). At the time of...
Religious freedom and tolerance are a pillar for a multi-religious and multi-ethnic society like Malaysia. In promoting this, the scarcity of data remains a challenge to produce evidence-based responses from the government or civil society actors. Datafication of laws and cases can help understand the level of restrictions and emerging trends that impact religious freedom...
