What About Malaysia?

[the_whipster]

it is a good considered from Brett, however Malaysia is not really a secular country when it does have an official state religion, Islam (which Indonesia does not even though there are proportionally more Muslims there overall). However people of other religions are supposedly able to practice freely. And neither is Malaysia 'preodimately' Muslim. Not when only 60% of them are supposedly Muslims - although I think that there are probably less 'real' Muslims than that in Malaysia. I also think the number of Catholicsin the Philippines is probably overcounted as well,.

 

the number of Muslims varies greatly from state to state. Kelantan, bordering Thailand in the north is 95% Muslim. Sarawak on Borneo is only 25%. In Sabah there are some towns like Keningau in the interior where the number of Muslims is almost nil and there are many Filipinos that have been living there for decades. The flavour of these kind of communities is very little different to the Philippines.

 

with girls yes it is not so easy to pull them off the street and in the mall in Malaysia as the Philippines. They are getting too affluent for that. As Brett says, be aware of khalwat if you are dating a Muslim girl. A Muslim is not allowed to be in close proximity i.e. in a hotel room or even in a car alone with someone of the opposite sex. You should also be careful with Muslim girls in hotels as they may have to surrender their ID on check in and much of the time the fact they are Muslim is given away by their name. A hotel clerk could get on the phone to the religous police, but you wouldn't be the one in trouble as long as you are not a Muslim yourself. She would be though. The khalwatlaw applies only to Muslims however just sometimes non-Muslims, or people who consider themselves non-Muslims but the Malaysian authorities do not, can get caught up with this law SEE HERE http://www.malaysia-today.net/malaysia-achieves-another-first-christian-woman-convicted-of-khalwat/. There is religous police in Malaysia but they are organised at state level. So in 95% Muslim Kelantan, they are quite a major force. But in Sabah, maybe 35% Muslim, they hardly exist. Malaysia is a country of considerable diversity.

 

alcohol is also a bit of an issue in Malaysia especially when drinking in bars, the prices will be a right shock after the Philippines, however there is a lot of under-the-counter stuff going on. When I was in Sabah I would get beers from Chinese restos who were getting them smuggled in from the duty free island of Lubuan.

[MikeB]

I also think the number of Catholicsin the Philippines is probably overcounted as well

Agree.