Racism in Malaysia

Racism in Malaysia

In July, 2024, i spent ten days in Malaysia with my husband, it was fun and culturally eye-opening experience.

Fast forward to October 2024, and took another trip to Malaysia, to Kuala Lumpur to be exact. I travelled with my son to spend the next two months here. However, after two weeks in Malaysia I’m feeling so disheartened about my decision to come here.

Ok so, I we spent the first four days of our trip at the Fairfield by Marriott Hotel in a place called Chow Kit. I have to admit, it was wonderful! Delicious food, clean rooms, comfortable bed, helpful and pleasant staff. We spent most of the time in our room and ordered room service most of the time because the food was so good.

Anyway, during this time, I decided to search for an apartment to rent for the next two or three months. In fact, the goal is to stay in Malaysia for three months to work on a few projects. However, something very upsetting is swaying my decision to leave to Thailand instead.

So, what happened?

I began my search to find a rental for 3 months, not a short term rental apartment, but a normal one that would allow for a three month contract. Many landlords do this, I know because my friends live in Malaysia, and they got a contract for 3 months, and extended it after they realized they want to stay in the city long term.

Bear in mind, my friends are white, I’m a British-born African.

Anyway, I sent several messages to agents through the platform, and I ended up speaking to more than 50 agents over two days.

The first agent I spoke to gave me some very upsetting news.

He said:

“Sorry, most of my landlords don’t rent to Blacks.”

I was like:

“Please repeat that!”

He said again:

“Yeah, they don’t rent to blacks and honestly, unless you decide on a hotel type apartment, most landlords won’t rent to you.”

I thought it was a one-off, until the next agent said the same thing.

When you go to rent an apartment in Malaysia, they send you a form, and one of the questions asks you about your race.

I asked why they want to know this information, and the agent went on to say that landlords need to know just in case the apartment isn’t suitable for a certain race. He said that some luxury apartment buildings don’t want blacks because their tenants are rich and well-to-do Chinese or Malaysians that don’t want to be disturbed by Black people.

I kept probing and the agent said:

“Malaysians are not racist, they treat you good or bad according to your attitude, not the colour of your skin”

He also went on to say that many landlords have had issues with Africans so they choose not to rent to them, and that’s their choice so it’s not racist.

I was shocked, and I’m still really shocked that this is legal in 2024 in a country that’s supposed to be progressive. I’m baffled.

This time around, my time in Malaysia has not been fun. I walk into local stores such as 7-11 and, they treat me like I’m not even human. They refuse to greet me when I greet them, and they stare at me like I’m some kind of zombie.

Some say, well, they hardly see Black people, so they’re shocked. But honestly, this is just a whole load of rubbish! These people are glued to their phones, they know what a black person looks like. In fact, there are many Africans living and working in Malaysia, but they’re mostly hated, and that’s the truth.

It’s not all Malaysians, but many don’t want to see Black people in their country, and that’s an actual fact.

I’ve seen white people treated really well, and as soon as I walk over to the counter, I’m treated like a piece of dirt. It’s happened more than ten times since I’ve been here.

The shop workers, they’re scared when I pull up to the counter to pay for my goods, they don’t want to serve me, but they have no choice because it’s their job.

I still can’t believe I’m writing this, but there will be no way in hell that I will come back to this country.

Right now, I’m staying at a short term rental apartment, and went I enter the lift, people flinch as if they’re scared. When I’m in the lift, they won’t get in, and these are rich Malaysians who have come from another part of town. The thing is, I can speak their language, I speak Malaysian and I can understand Mandarin, and speak it almost fluently. I can understand every word of what they’re saying and mostly I respond when I’m leaving the lift of coming off the escalator.

I tell them:

"Thank you for being such a wonderful citizen of your country, you are so polite. I’m really grateful that I’ve been in your presence today. It’s really important to treat people equally and be kind. Racism is not kind.”

They just stare at me in shock. Some will even say that I didn’t understand what they were saying, and that I got it wrong. You see, never underestimate people, and don’t speak ill of people because you think they can’t understand your language.

I’m still flabbergasted, but I won’t let it get me down. I’ll continue my project, complete it, and leave.

Did you know that there was this much racism in Malaysia?