CITIZENSHIP, RELIGION, AND RIGHTS: A Critical Assessment of Discrimination and Legal Inequality in Malaysia

Alimuddin Hassan Palawa

Abstract


This article critically examines how law and policy in Malaysia operate not only as instruments of governance, but also as mechanisms of exclusion, particularly at the intersections of citizenship, religion, gender, and identity. Drawing on the landmark report Washing the Tigers (Equal Rights Trust & Tenaganita, 2012) and utilizing a rights-based, interdisciplinary framework, the study reveals how Malaysia’s dual legal system, ethno-religious nationalism, and moral governance produce a stratified regime of belonging and legal recognition. Through qualitative discourse analysis and a postcolonial theoretical lens, the article explores three key domains: (1) stratified citizenship and racialized statehood; (2) religious governance and the erosion of pluralism; and (3) gendered moral regulation and the criminalization of difference. The findings demonstrate that discrimination in Malaysia is not incidental but structural—codified into law and normalized through ideology. The study concludes by calling for a radical reconfiguration of the legal and normative foundations of citizenship in Malaysia, toward a plural, inclusive, and rights-based polity. This article contributes to broader discussions on legal pluralism, postcolonial statecraft, and the politics of difference in Southeast Asia.

Keywords


Malaysia; citizenship; legal pluralism; religious governance; gender and sexuality;

References


Al Jazeera. (2006, January 25). Malaysian allowed non-Muslim burial. Al Jazeera News. https://www.aljazeera.com/

Anderson, B. (1991). Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism (Rev. ed.). Verso.

Asian Correspondent. (2011, March 11). Thousands of foreigners caned in Malaysia.

Beatrice Fernandez v Sistem Penerbangan Malaysia & Anor, [2005] 2 CLJ 713 (Federal Court).

CEDAW Committee. (2006). Concluding Comments of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women on Malaysia. UN Doc. CEDAW/C/MYS/CO/2.

Equal Rights Trust & Tenaganita. (2012). Washing the Tigers: Addressing Discrimination and Inequality in Malaysia. The Equal Rights Trust.

Foucault, M. (1980). Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews and Other Writings 1972–1977. Pantheon.

Gupta, A., & Ferguson, J. (1992). Beyond “culture”: Space, identity, and the politics of difference. Cultural Anthropology, 7(1), 6–23.

Hall, S. (1997). The spectacle of the “Other.” In S. Hall (Ed.), Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices (pp. 223–290). SAGE.

Human Rights Watch. (2011, November 21). Malaysia: End Use of Internal Security Act.

International Labour Organization. (1997). Affirmative Action in the Employment of Ethnic Minorities and Persons with Disabilities. ILO.

Levitt, P., & Glick Schiller, N. (2004). Conceptualizing simultaneity: A transnational social field perspective on society. International Migration Review, 38(3), 1002–1039.

Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development Malaysia. (2010). National Policy for the Elderly. http://www.kpwkm.gov.my

Noorfadilla Ahmad Saikin v Chayed bin Basirun & Ors, [2012] 1 CLJ 769 (High Court of Malaya).

Sivarasa Rasiah v Badan Peguam Malaysia & Anor, [2010] 3 CLJ 507 (Federal Court).

United Nations Human Rights Council. (2009). Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education: Mission to Malaysia. UN Doc. A/HRC/11/8/Add.2.

United Nations Human Rights Council. (2010). Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of Indigenous People, James Anaya. UN Doc. A/HRC/15/37/Add.1.

World Economic Forum. (2010). The Global Gender Gap Report 2010.




DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.24014/apjrs.v8i2.37574

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Copyright (c) 2025 Asia-Pacific Journal on Religion and Society



 

   Asia-Pacific Journal on Religion and Society (APJRS) Indexed By:

   

Mailing Address:

Nusantara Journal for Southeast Asian Islamic Studies is published by Institute for Southeast Asian Islamic Studies (ISAIS) Universitas Islam Negeri Sultan Syarif Kasim Riau.

Gedung Islamic Center Lt. I Universitas Islam Negeri Sultan Syarif Kasim Riau, Jl. H.R. Soebrantas Km. 15 No. 155 Kelurahan Simpang Baru Kecamatan Tampan Pekanbaru - Riau 28293, PO. BOX 1004.

Published by:

Institute for Southeast Asean Islamic Studies (ISAIS)
Universitas Islam Negeri  Sultan Syarif Kasim Riau
Jalan H. R. Soebrantas KM. 15.5, Simpangbaru, Tampan
Pekanbaru - 28293
email: isais.uinsuska@gmail.com

Indexed by:

 

 

web stats

View My Stats

 Creative Commons License APJRS is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International.