Talk:Hinduism in Malaysia

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[edit] Today's Malay Hindus???

Just wondering if there are any ethnic Malay population still practicing Hinduism (or to some lesser extend, Buddhism)?

Probably very few since most malays cannot leave islam.--Dangerous-Boy 21:09, 24 May 2006 (UTC)

To answer that question(and many other questions regarding race whenever that subject is to be understood in relation with ethnicity), one would then have to(or at least attempt to) clearly define what exactly constitutes being a "Malay"? I do understand where youre coming from and for the sake of argument, lets say we're talking about the Malays in Malaysia; Then yes in answer to your question, it would be unconstitutional(I believe, correct me if I'm wrong) for them to not be Muslims.

         Now lets take a look at the same examination from another perspective;When you say Malay, are you talking about people from the "Malay archipelago"? Ie not discounting modern day Thailand, Indonesia & the Phillipines? If so, than one would be inclined to think that religion and race are two independent entities that coexist with one another under a same association(a circumstance dictated by politics of the time). I.e. The people of Bali/Phillipines/Borneo/Flores who are from the Malay archipelago are presently not Muslims.

I guess it just depends on how you look at it.

[edit] Spiritualism

It is stated in the text of this Wiki that "Folk Hinduism is the most prevalent variety, including spiritualism [emphasis mine] and worship of local gods."

This sentence is unclear or inaccurate for several reasons, one of which is dealt with here. The link for Spiritualism takes one to the Wiki on Spiritualism which refers to a belief that is rather different. In this Wiki, the following is stated:

"Hinduism, though an extremely heterogeneous belief system, generally shares a belief with Spiritualism in the separation of the soul from the body at death, and its continued existence. But Hindus differ from Spiritualists in that they typically believe in reincarnation, and typically hold that all features of a person's personality are extinguished at death. Spiritualists, however, maintain that the spirit retains the personality it possessed during its (single) human existence."

This describes an aspect of Hinduism that has some parallel to the separate, Spiritualist's belief, as implied by the article at Spiritualism, but it is not spiritualism itself.

Secondly, it is stated that this folk Hinduism is the most prevalent 'variety' of Hinduism in Malaysia. Is there evidence to show that this is the most prevalent form (e.g., statistical year book records, etc.)? If no source or evidence can be shown, then it is best to removed this speculation because it is inaccurate.

Could someone correct for these? Thanks. Dingodangodongo 07:07, 13 September 2006 (UTC)

Hindraf- What do you want?

Initially your Action Force wanted to claim damages from the British Goverment for " displacing your ancestors from their rightful country. " Now you want HRH Queen Elizabeth to interverned in the politics of Malaysia for the so called demolishing of 10,000 hindu temples..( By the way , can it be supported with the relevant documents backing this claim? ) What else my brothers? If you are not happy with the living condition in Malaysia, why dont you pick a leader tha can act for you in Goverment..Or better still why don't you go back to your motherland... There they don't demolish hindu temple, but they build one on former mosques.. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 60.51.98.140 (talk) 06:01, 3 December 2007 (UTC)