This divide has led to “growing insensitivity,” and hardened people’s sense of ethnic and religious identity.
Iman Muttaqin Yusof/Kuala Lumpur
A seven-second video clip on social media targeting a Hindu festival is the latest incident that reflects growing polarization in multi-faith, multi-ethnic Malaysia, analysts say.
The clip, posted Tuesday on a radio station’s social media platform, showed three Malay Muslim on-air personalities mimicking devotees in a trance during a Hindu festival celebrated by the country’s ethnic Indian community. The Thaipusam festival was held last month.
Era FM, the station owned by the country’s largest broadcaster, Astro Radio, deleted the video on the same day it was posted but not before it was widely viewed. Malaysia’s largest Indian political party, the Malaysian Indian Congress, condemned the clip as a blatant insult to Hinduism.
Political analyst Azmil Tayeb said the incident reflected “growing insensitivity that is the result of the polarization we are seeing” in Malaysian society.
“Every slight, perceived or otherwise, can easily trigger raw emotions and be seen as an attack against one’s community. Polarization hardens people’s sense of ethnic and religious identity,” Azmil, from Universiti Sains Malaysia, told BenarNews.
Ethnic Malays comprise 70% of Malaysia’s population, followed by ethnic Chinese (22.6%) and ethnic Indians (6.6%).
Rituals performed during Thaipusam hold deep significance for Hindu devotees.
The festival honors a goddess’ gift of a spear to vanquish evil given to another. Devotees pierce their bodies with hooks and skewers while chanting “Vel, Vel,” a reference to the sacred spear.
That was the chant the radio station’s staff had mimicked in the video.
Aziff Azuddin of IMAN Research, a local think-tank, said attacks on faiths were a result of ignorance and inter-ethnic resentment.
“Non-Muslims feel like their faith or way of living is increasingly being sidelined by the Muslim majority,” he told BenarNews.
“And the Muslim majority is increasingly feeling like non-Muslims are becoming more antagonistic toward them. Both things can be true at once.”
Incident reports
The three Era FM staff featured in the video posted an apology clip online and the station suspended them.
The broadcasting, telecommunications and internet regulator, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, on Wednesday issued a notice of intent to revoke the radio station’s license.
Police Inspector-General Razaruddin Husain said police had received 73 reports about the video clip.
“The case is being investigated under Section 298 of the Penal Code for deliberately insulting other religions and Section 233 of the Communication Act. The case file has been handed to the Attorney General’s Chambers for further action,” the nation’s police chief told BenarNews.
Gayathry Venkiteswaran, an analyst from the University of Nottingham Malaysia, raised concerns about the incident’s impact on the nation.
“It does set a bad precedent in the sense that it almost creates the kind of normalization of attacks against minorities,” Venkiteswaran, an assistant professor of media, languages and cultures, told BenarNews.
And yet, she warned against legal action in such cases.
“Instead of taking the criminal investigation path, there has to be more public calling out of this behavior, more ethical responsibility from broadcasters and a stronger emphasis on professional conduct,” she said.
Leaders must urge influential media figures to conduct themselves ethically, she added.
“[This is] an opportunity for them to show how to have conversations about differences in society,” the professor said.
Ongoing incidents
In other action on Wednesday, the MCMC fined comedian Harith Iskandar and a Facebook user named Cecilia Yap 10,000 ringgit (U.S. $2,260) each for joking about a ham sandwich that a store, KK Mart, had labeled as halal in January.
This incident was perceived as disrespecting Islam, because Muslims are forbidden from eating pork products such as ham, which means they are not halal.
The owner of KK Mart and a supplier has been fined 60,000 ringgit ($13,550) last year for “wounding religious feelings” by selling socks with the word “Allah” printed on them.
Last month, a grilled corn vendor was fined 400 ringgit ($90) for displaying a racially charged sign targeting the Indian community.
In 2024, a movie director and producer were charged with allegedly “wounding religious feelings” in a feature film about a young Muslim girl exploring other faiths.
‘Firm message’
Meanwhile on Thursday, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim warned citizens against using such incidents to stir up tensions.
“This is a firm message to all Malaysians to stop the culture of insulting any religion, culture, and ethnicity in any space in Malaysia,” his office said in a statement.
“Do not let petty issues weaken us at a time when the country is growing and on a good trajectory.”
Nisha David in Kuala Lumpur contributed to the report
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