Page 15 - A Study of Traditional Chinese Religions in Malaysia: The Decline and the Path Towards Revitalization

Federation of Taoist Associations Malaysia believed that nearly 80 percent of their members
were recorded as Buddhists or as having “no religion” in the database of the National

Registration Department (“Taoism now recognised in MyKad'' 2006). There has yet to be a
systematic approach on the part of the Malaysian government to categorise the various
traditional Chinese religions, or any blend of these, and other faiths alike in the database. In

fact, academically, it is difficult to find a theoretical approach to define Chinese religions
(Jones 2005). Therefore, the religious identity of Malaysian Chinese as published in

Malaysia’s official sources is, for the most part, an authority-defined identity.

On the other hand, the religious affiliation for Malaysian Chinese is changing over
time. Although TCR is generally still prominent among the Chinese community in Malaysia,
the number of Chinese Malaysians who have converted to other religions such as Christianity

and Islam, is on the rise. At the same time, atheism and agnosticism among Malaysian
Chinese are on the rise too. If such a trend is to continue, TCR may one day lose its affiliation
with Malaysian Chinese religious institutions and identity. Though some may claim that

conversion to other religions is a matter of faith, in reality, a much-complicated process
usually occurs before a person decides to convert. The process involves many social and
psychological factors. Some of these factors involve changes at the structural level while

some are caused by micro factors at the individual level. Religious identity, just like other
identities (ethnicities, gender, nationalities, etc.) is an achieved identity and not an ascribed

identity. Various socio-psychological factors are causing individuals to assume their religious
identities. Conversely, these factors are also causing individuals to discard their religious
identity. These factors are worth investigating since the decline of TCR has implications on

the Chinese religions that have defined the meaning of Chinese civilization and identity. Such
changes of religious identities will also reshape the parameters that construct the Chinese

worldview.

1.2 Census Reports: Misreporting and the Declining TCR

The British colonial government began taking the census of Malaya in 1871, but the religious

census was not officially included in official reports until 1911. In fact, the censuses carried
out before 1911 did not comprehensively cover all the Malay states. The 1871 census was
carried out for the Straits Settlements and did not include the other Malay states while the

1891 and 1901 censuses excluded the Unfederated Malay states (Shymala, et al. 2015). The
effort to conduct a more comprehensive census that covered the Straits Settlements,

Federated Malay States and Unfederated Malay States only began in 1911 and this census
also included religion as one of the categories to be measured. However, after the inclusion
of religion, the problem of classifying Chinese religious identity emerged. The British officials

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