Page 17 - A Study of Traditional Chinese Religions in Malaysia: The Decline and the Path Towards Revitalization

This problem persisted after Malaysia achieved its independence. The first census after

the establishment of Malaysia was conducted in 1970, and religion was included as one of
the items in the census. In that census, 78.9 percent of Chinese chose Buddhism as their

religion. However, since the census did not provide the option for indicating the other TCR,
12.4 percent of Chinese chose "other religions". When the option of "Confucianism, Taoism
and other traditional Chinese beliefs'' was introduced in the 1980 census, some Chinese

chose this option as their religious affiliation, causing the percentage of the Buddhist
population to decline (A. B. Tan 2015). Again, the changing classifications show the failure
of the Malaysian authorities to understand the complexity and the syncretic nature of Chinese

religions. Despite the fact that more and more Chinese are recognizing themselves as
Buddhists, traditional Chinese religious practices that have been influenced by Confucianism
and Taoism are still practiced. Even the Buddhist Chinese are also practicing traditions such

as ancestor worship and other cultural practices that have Taoist or Confucianist origins.

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Table 1.2 Percentage of Malaysian Chinese religion in 1970, 1980, 1991, 2000

Year 1970 1980 1991 2000

Buddhism 78.9 60.1 68.3 75.9

Confucianism, Taoism and 33.3 19.9 10.6
other traditional Chinese beliefs

Christian 3.5 4.1 7.7 9.6

Islam 0.2 0.2 0.4 1.0

Hinduism 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.3

Tribes/folk religions 0.1 0.2 0.1

Other Religion 12.4 0.3 0.3 0.2

No Religion 4.9 1.8 2.7 2.3

Unknown 0.3

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Source: Adapted from Tan Ai Boey, “Who are Buddhists? -- An analysis of the Buddhist belief of Chinese in
Malaysia”, The World Religions Culture, No. 2, 2015, 71. （陈爱梅：《谁是佛教徒？佛教徒是谁？——马来西亚

华人佛教信仰探析》，《世界宗教文化》，2015 年第 2 期，第 71 页。） (A. B. Tan 2015)

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