Page 26 - A Study of Traditional Chinese Religions in Malaysia: The Decline and the Path Towards Revitalization

Chapter Two

Tan Yang Sheng and Yong Xin Yi

Traditional Chinese Religions (TCR) in Malaysia: Practitioners’ Perceptions

2.1 Introduction

In order to discuss the factors that are causing Malaysian Chinese to leave TCR, it is
important to know the factors that are causing them to do so. However, understanding the

thoughts of Malaysian Chinese who are still practicing TCR is also equally important.
Questions include “to what extent they are still convicted to these religions need to be
answered.”, and “What are the factors that are causing them to have such thoughts?”

Therefore, this research took the initiative to understand the religious perspective of
Malaysian Chinese who are still practicing TCR. A survey was conducted to collect their

feedback based on the following objectives:

1. To determine the perceptions of Malaysian Chinese towards religious beliefs.

2. To explore factors that shape the beliefs towards TCR among Malaysian Chinese.

3. To ascertain the level of conviction towards TCR among Malaysian Chinese.

It is worth mentioning that this survey is not limited to gathering opinions from the believers

on TCR but also aims to collect their suggestions for the future of TCR.

2.2 Socio-Demographics of Respondents

A total of 204 responses were collected. Four responses that did not comply with the survey

requirements were removed. Hence, the discussion of the results is presented based on the
responses of 200 respondents who are all Malaysian Chinese.

The female respondents made up 56.6 percent of the total number of respondents

while 43.5 percent were male respondents. This shows that both genders are represented in
this study more or less equally. More than half of the respondents are aged between 21 to
40 years old and 10 percent of the respondents are aged from 56 to 65 years old. Out of

these, most of the respondents (62%) are tertiary educated while only six percent of the
respondents are at primary level. In this respect, most of the respondents (85%) are Chinese

educated and 16 percent of them are non-Chinese educated.

Respondents come from almost all states in Malaysia. The breakdown shows
Selangor (20%), Perak (18%), Johor (13%), Melaka (11%). Kedah (2%), Perlis (2%),

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