THE GOVERNANCE OF RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY MORE OR LESS SECULARISM? 10-12 June 2015 SESSION: THE GOVERNANCE OF RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY IN THE PUBLIC SPACE: PERSPECTIVES FROM ASIA THE GOVERNANCE OF RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY IN MALAYSIA: EVOLVING CONTESTATIONS IN A ‘PLURAL SOCIETY’ Wan Zawawi Ibrahim | University of Malaysia/ University of Brunei AND EMERGING The paper examines the evolving development and contestations of Malaysian ‘plural society’ in relation to the governance of its religious diversity from its inception as an independent nation-state to the current era of Post-Mahathirism and globalisation. Legally, the Malaysian constitution has always been acknowledged as secular, and that whilst Islam is its official religion, Malaysia is not an Islamic state, in which the rights of non-Muslims’ religious practices are constitutionally protected. For a long time, Malaysia takes pride in being a melting pot of different cultures, ethnicities and religions, coexisting under a secular sphere. Traditionally the contestation over Islam took place in the arena of political parties, e.g between the ruling Malay party, UMNO and the Islamic party, PAS. But of late, in the Post-Mahathir era, specifically under the political leadership of Najib Razak, certain ‘critical points’ of contestation have emerged in the legalscape of Malaysian society, involving several cases which invoke the constitutional rights to religious freedom, raising pertinent questions as to the boundaries of religious freedom for both Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Underlying these tensions are the alleged ‘ambiguity’ of the Federal Constitution, the ‘reluctance’ of the judiciary (civil courts) ‘to protect the religious freedom of minorities’, giving way to the ‘ostensibly overzealous arbitrary approach by the Syariah courts’. The National Fatwa Council has also joined the fray by further narrowing down the space of social freedom in the country, the latest, being the banning of ‘Sisters in Islam’. Some members of the ruling political party also began to voice support towards elevating the status of Syariah courts beyond the provision of the Malaysian Constitution. The situation has been further exacerbated and destabilised by the emergence in civil society of Muslim Malay extremist NGOs which have been given social space in the current context of Malaysian political governance to dominate the public discourse. Lately, to counter the political inaction of the ruling polity and the domination in civil society by the Malay extremists, for the first time, a group of eminent Malays began to vocalise their critique as ‘moderate Malays’, with a proposal, among others, that parts of the Syariah laws need to be reviewed to ensure that they do not intrude on the civil liberties enshrined in the Federal Constitution, which they advocate should remain as the supreme law of the Malaysian nation-state. The paper will offer critical lessons on the theme of the governance of religious diversity in Asia that can be learnt from the Malaysian experience.