Malaysians not ready for hudud - Merdeka Center

Majority of Malaysians are not ready for the implementation of hudud and qisas, a recent study by Merdeka Centre revealed.

The study carried out among voters in Peninsular Malaysia found 58 per cent of Malays, 59 per cent of Chinese and 61 per cent of Indians were of the opinion that Malaysia is not ready to implement Islamic criminal laws.

“The study found that only 25 per cent of the whole respondents and 30 per cent of the Malay respondent who believed that the country is ready for the implementation of hudud laws,” said Merdeka Center for Opinion Research in a press statement, released today.

The study was carried out from Apr 12 to 21, involving 1,009 registered voters out of which 60 per cent were Malays, 31 per cent Chinese and 9 per cent Indians. They were picked randomly and interviewed via telephone.

Despite saying the country is not prepared to implement hudud, a total of 53 per cent of the respondents said they supported the Islamic laws while 56 per cent said they understood hudud.

The majority of those who supported hudud were the Malays, at 71 per cent while the majority of those who did not support hudud were the Chinese (65 per cent) and Indians (69 per cent).

The Merdeka Center survey also found that 83 per cent of the Malay respondents who supported the implementation of Islamic criminal laws are those aged 30 and below. This is in line with the survey carried out by the same firm in 2011 on young Malays and hudud.

Meanwhile, the survey also showed that only 32 per cent of the respondents believe that hudud laws can be carried out fairly. They were asked to give their perception on the ability of the judicial institution and enforcement in ensuring that hudud laws will be carried out fairly.