Chen, who resides in Subang Jaya, said being surrounded by residents of different ethnicities has allowed her to enjoy Malaysia’s diversity in terms of the festivals, cuisines and cultures.
“It is definitely more convenient for me. I get to enjoy different kinds of food and celebrations,” she said.
“Sometimes my Malay neighbours will offer me some kuih-muih (cakes) and some of my Indian friends in the neighbourhood will invite me to their house to celebrate Deepavali,” she told FMT.
Chen was commenting on a survey conducted under the government’s National Transformation Plan (TN50) initiative which concluded that Malays and Indians mostly prefer to stay with their own race in a locale.
The survey also found that 72.6% of Malaysians prefer to stay in mixed-race neighbourhoods compared with 20% who favour living among their own race.
It also showed 25.6% of Malays preferred staying among their own kind while 19.5% of Indians were inclined to stay with their own race.
In contrast, most Chinese, as well as Bumiputeras of Sabah and Sarawak, liked staying in mixed environments featuring a multi-ethnic society.
The survey, conducted over a period of nine days in March, involved more than 1,000 respondents from all major ethnic groups above the age of 18 years.
Harripriya Thamilchelvan, 14, said she has no problem staying with her Malay neighbours as she can learn a great deal from them in terms of language and culture.
“I enjoy chatting with my Malay neighbours because I can learn a lot from them and have an insight into their culture,” said the resident of Taman Medan in Petaling Jaya.
Meanwhile, 44-year old Lim Bee Hong said parents play an important role in exposing their children to multi-racial and multi-ethnic environments.
“We should teach and expose our children about the different sets of communities which Malaysia has to offer,” she said.
“This should be taught when they are young so that when they grow up, they will not want to stay with a single race only,” said Lim, who has been working as a food vendor for over 20 years at Jinjang Utara, Kuala Lumpur.
Despite living in an area where 99% of the people are Chinese, Lim claimed that she preferred to stay in a community with a mix of Chinese, Indians and Malays.
Nur Amirah Roslan, on the other hand, said she wanted to keep staying among her own race as she found it easier to communicate and practise her religion.
“Having your own race around is like having a brother or sister with you. They understand what you are doing, and they will not have any problem or complaints against you,” she said.
The 35-year-old housewife said that she has lived in a Malay area since she was young and is comfortable that way.
“I know it is quite racist to say that I prefer staying with my own kind, but it can also avoid any racial problems between different races,” she said.
She added that she has never celebrated any major festival except for Malay-Muslim celebrations like Hari Raya Aidil Fitri.