Page 43 - A Study of Traditional Chinese Religions in Malaysia: The Decline and the Path Towards Revitalization

Chapter Three

Low Yaw Dong and Voon Shi Jing

Traditional Chinese Religions and Conversion in Malaysia

3.1 Introduction

Chinese religions in Malaysia have seen significant changes due to patterns of conversion
within the confines of TCR and into non-TCR. These changes have impacted the Chinese
identity in Malaysia, although traditional Chinese religions have generally formed part of the

Chinese Malaysian identity.

Conversion to non-TCR like Christianity and Islam steadily happens amid the

shrinking Chinese Malaysian population. The population of Malaysian Buddhists, too, is
expected to dwindle in the medium to long term, whereas followers of other TCR like

Confucianism and Taoism have already declined over the past decades. Also, in attempting
a modern lifestyle, younger Chinese parents today may selectively maintain traditional
religious practices with the next generation, causing the young to either dissociate

themselves from TCR or seek refuge in non-TCR.

In order to understand the factors that are causing Malaysian Chinese to embrace
non-TCR, a survey was conducted. This chapter discusses the findings of the said survey
aimed at understanding TCR and conversion in Malaysia. Sampling of respondents was done

purposively. Only Malaysian Chinese who have converted out of TCR were selected. The
objectives to conduct the survey are as follows:

1. To explore, in general their perception towards religious beliefs;
2. To explore factors that promote the religious conversion process among Chinese

Malaysians;
3. To probe their experiences after they have converted out of TCR.

3.2 Background of Respondents

A total of 124 responses were collected and after cleaning the data, some responses that did
not comply with the participant requirements were deleted. Therefore, the results discussed

here are based on the responses of 108 respondents. The respondents are all Chinese
Malaysians who have converted out of TCR, as per the eligibility to partake in the survey. All
are of Chinese parentage except for six respondents who are of mixed parentage.

31