Study: 58% of M’sian Chinese & Indian Youths Feel They’re Unfairly Treated by Govt & Discriminated Against

Malaysian opinion research firm Merdeka Center recently released the National Youth Survey 2024 which revealed some interesting findings about the thoughts and struggles of youths aged 18 to 30 in our country. 

The survey includes several questions about their thoughts on the national outlook and economic concerns, education and career aspirations, cultural identity and social progress, vision for inclusive governance and the national political landscape.

84% of respondents think they have a good quality of life

One of the most striking results of the survey has got to be the respondents’ thoughts on cultural identity and social progress, which this article will be focusing on.

In terms of quality of life in general, 84% of the respondents think that they have a good quality of life, while only 15% of the Malaysian youths surveyed think that they have a bad quality of life.

For the latter, most of the respondents who think they have a bad quality of life are among the Indian community and Bumiputera.

Furthermore, 47% of respondents think that they are better than their parents in terms of Standard of Living, while 35% think they’re the same and 14% think they’re worse off than their parents.

In terms of Personal Financial Situation, 38% think they’re better off than their parents, 30% think they’re the same, and 26% think they’re worse off.

Besides that, 43% think they’re better off than their parents in terms of Job Security, 29% believe they’re the same and 15% think they’re worse off than their parents.

Chinese and Indian respondents think their communities are unfairly treated by the Government

Merdeka Center then asked about discrimination separately between Chinese and Indian respondents with Malay and Muslim Bumiputera respondents, which resulted in rather interesting findings.

Among the Chinese and Indian respondents, 58% of them think that their communities are unfairly treated by the Government and frequently discriminated against in Malaysia. 

This is considerably more than the 43% recorded in the 2023 version of the survey and accordingly, the percentage of Chinese and Indian respondents who think that they’re generally fairly treated and not discriminated against in Malaysia dropped from 46% to 37%.

A further breakdown of this survey shows that 62% of Indian respondents think they’re unfairly treated in Malaysia, while 57% of Chinese respondents think the same. 

Merdeka Center elaborated that 1,605 respondents aged 18 to 30 were interviewed via telephone for the survey, with the respondents selected through a random stratified sampling method along the lines of ethnicity, gender, age and state.

You can read the full survey findings here.

So, what do you guys think of Merdeka Center’s National Youth Survey 2024? Share your thoughts with us in the comments. 

Also read: Study: Malaysia Ranks 10th in the World For the Safest and Most Peaceful Country in 2024!