WHEN M. Ravinathan was looking for a house to rent in Kepong, a Kuala Lumpur neighbourhood dominated by Chinese Malaysians, prospective landlords would shut the door in his face because of his ethnicity.

When the 32-year-old asked why no Indian Malaysians were allowed, property owners told him it was because of “his smell” or because of worries he would not be able to pay the rent.

Ravinathan is not the only one who has faced such flagrant racism. According to a study by Malaysian Human Rights Commissioner Jerald Joseph, race-based renting is becoming more prevalent.

Landlords also told The Malaysian Insight that the practice was becoming “necessary”, claiming that prospective tenants looked for places that had Indian, Chinese or Malay-only requirements.

The practice, said Joseph, reflected the Barisan Nasional administration’s failure to change racist attitudes that have remained the same since independence 60 years ago.

Prevailing racism makes national cohesion difficult and makes Malaysia ill-prepared to deal with a world that is becoming increasingly diverse, said Joseph.

“Our thinking is that it is always easier to stay or to get involved with our own kind,” he told said.

This attitude, along with other forms of racist and discriminatory behaviour, will deepen segregation and Malaysians will lose out on appreciating diversity.

“The strength of your character is not flocking with your own kind, but it is the ability to be yourself in the midst of diversity.

“When renting out a place, you are looking for a decent person and they come from all ethnicities. Looking for a particular race to rent out a house doesn’t guarantee he is not a crazy person,” he said.

A necessary practice

Ravinathan’s experience is not unique and neither does it affect only Malaysians of Indian descent.

Landlords of every community seem to vet possible tenants based on race.

Lim Fu Wah, 25 said he had to brave the early morning highway crawl from Petaling Jaya every day to get to Shah Alam because he could not find an affordable place in the Malay-Muslim-centric city.

The technician is forced to rent in Petaling Jaya, which has more diverse neighbourhoods.

“I could not find an affordable place to rent in Shah Alam. Landlords don’t say that they want Malay only, but when you call them up, you will know it when they start giving you excuses,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

These racial preferences seem to be shared by tenants. Lai Chun Fong, a landlord in Kepong, said that race was a factor that Malaysians look for when looking for places to rent.

“It’s not that I want to promote racism or I am more favourable to a Chinese person,” who rents an apartment to only Chinese tenants.

“Take Kepong, which is a Chinese-majority area, if you put ‘Chinese only’ in your advertisement, more people would take up the place.

“No Chinese will want to live in an Indian populated area, or a Malay populated area, it goes the same for other races,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

Another landlord Muhammad Amirul Akbar who is renting out a house at Shah Alam to only Malays said everyone was doing the same by putting conditions such as these to rent out a house.

“I am not violating any laws, it is my property and everyone is doing the same. It is an accepted practice here in Shah Alam where Malays are the majority.

“You have fewer problems when it comes to renting out your house to a person of the same race, that is my opinion,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

Losing diversity    

Joseph said his study of the problem is based on the 2016 report by civil society group Pusat Komas on racism and discrimination.

In its 2016 report, KOMAS found that Malaysians discriminated against members of different communities and also foreigners when renting out property.

The report also found that certain ethnicities were often discriminated against by employers.

Race-based renting comes from the failure of the government to move Malaysians forward from the “1957 formula” of race relations that date from the end of British rule.

“The government, as a main player in society, should educate, institute policies and laws, and dismantle old attitudes and reinvent new ones.

“And our current government has failed in that. They have gone along and used race-based methods to find solutions.” 

Race-based renting was one problem among many that eats away at social cohesion, said Joseph.

Others are the separation of Muslim and non-Muslim drinking cups at a school in Hulu Langat, the Muslim-only launderette in Muar, Johor, and the ban on Muslim frontline staff from wearing head scarves by some hotels, he said.

Joseph said racism would only cause Malaysians to lose out on the bigger picture where they can derive strength from diversity.

“I’m not asking you to throw away your cultural identity – a Hokkien Chinese is still a Hokkien Chinese – but embrace your nationality as a Malaysian, not as a Chinese, or a Malay or an Indian.

“If people make choices based on discriminatory practices based on ethnicity, race religion you lose the ability to live in a more diverse world,” he said. – February 11, 2018.