Page 54 - A Study of Traditional Chinese Religions in Malaysia: The Decline and the Path Towards Revitalization

40.00% 37.04% 37.04%
35.00%

30.00%
25.00%

20.00%
14.81%
15.00%

10.00% 7.41%
3.70%
5.00%

0.00%
Strongly Disagree (不认 Neutral (中立) Agree (认同) Strongly Agree (
Disagree (非常 同) 非常认同)
不认同)

Figure 3.12. TCR are shrouded with superstition (views from respondents with no religion).

3.5.2 Conversion does not affect Chineseness

The concept of ethnicity is defined in many different ways across disciplines (Vasta 1993).
Put simply, people of the same ethnicity tend to identify with one another or are identified by
others on the basis of a boundary that distinguishes them from other groups (Phinney and

Ong 2007). This boundary may take any of a number of forms - cultural, linguistic or religious.
However, many people do not agree with such a definition. They view ethnicity and religion

as not being related. Responses collated on how respondents view the relationship between
religion and ethnic identity reflect this, as the biggest group of respondents is respondents
who agree that religion and ethnicity are two different matters. 63.89% of the respondents

think that religion and ethnicity are probably two different matters (see Figure 3.13) and
similarly, 51.86 percent of the respondents do not think that religious teachings and practices
probably affect one’s ethnic identity (see Figure 3.14). This could be that many Chinese

Malaysians consider themselves to only practise religions (Ahmad Tarmizi 2019),
complementing the above results of the importance of religion in influencing their ways of life,
which may not necessarily affect their ethnic identity. This implies that converting religions

merely affects the way they live and not their ethnic identity.

42