Malaysians dont stone females to death, the closest to this was an attempt by the Malay courts to whip a well known actress a few years ago for sipping a beer. At the last moment her sentence to be whipped with a thin bamboo cane was stopped. Yes this causes cuts and welts and a lot of pain. Check youtube.

The country has a civilized core all be it a confused one. Poverty and lack of good education outside of the cities seems to be a problem which results in a high crime rate. The crime rate is further confounded by a big intake of unskilled workers from muslim dominated Indonesia.

The country consists of three main races, Chinese, and Indians are claimed by the Malay dominated government to be just under half the population. The first real Malay people are given token recognition but zero political power. The Malay government in the past passed a law which insists all Malays born in Malaysia are registered as Muslims, this has the effect to keep topping up the registered number of muslims in the country, just by being born you are allocated and registered as a muslim. It has been said that this places an obligation on those being born as muslims to only vote for a muslim style government. Chinese and Indians have refused to take part in this for obvious reasons. Foreigners marrying a Malay are forced to convert to be a muslim, a situation long overdue for attention from international human rights groups. Supporting this is the Malay government strategy to use Islam as a tool of control via politics.

Three races, three cultures, three colors looking for equality and recognition, while being overseen by a muslim dominated system introduced by arab traders around 350 years ago.

A strong vocal and political group are voicing their wish that the country becomes a full Islamic state using muslim laws similer to Arab states, if this really happens the country will be plunged in chaos. During the past 14 years the government has passed laws which have resulted in Malay females having to dress muslim style and pass this habit onto their children. They introduced the same law to apply to children in schools. It is not unusual to see a female garbed in layers of muslim style clothing in the hot tropical heat, no similer law is applied to muslim males.Mosques are being built at an incredible rate, while imported bibles are seized by customs and stamped with : for Christian eyes only.

Last year the Malay police raided a Christian church service and accused them of trying to convert muslims. Never has a Mosque been raided and those present accused of trying to convert others to Islam. Originally Malaysia was a buddhist country and the introduction of Islam is a result of Arab traders settling in malaysia prior to British presence. Under the British they were allowed to practice their religion but not recruit, pressure others towards Islam. When the British left things went into overdrive to turn malaysia into a muslim country using politics, laws and the government, these three being used in combination do cause problems for the Chinese malays,Indian malays and none Islam practicing malay malays who though in a few political jobs, have zero political power and are just token faces for an appearance of equality.

My job brings me in and out of the country around 8 times each year, marketing education sources and I can see the changes taking place, the country has so much potential if it simply allows those that want to practice any religion including Islam, to do so quietly in their own private time. This attachment of islam as a control tool via laws put in place by a muslim dominated government can only result in eventual huge internal conflict. Their is still time to change this and put the country on the road to prosperity, only time will tell if normality and common sense will take hold though it seems the people do want a government that operates free of muslim ethics. Political attention and tokens of genorisity and promises are given to the slightly less than half of the none muslim population, each time before the four yearly re-election. Power remains in the hands of a muslim dominated government.

I have no idea who Michael Hughes is? If he worked in our company and practiced cronyism in management he would be fired faster than a Texas rattlesnake biting an unsuspecting mouse. Perhaps its innocent and he might be working for a small company which is unaware of HR laws. It only becomes a legal issue if he knowingly chose tp practice cronyism. Such systems for managing large groups of staff are unhealthy and always result in staff conflict and degredation of the company management system. The only advice I can give is that staff read this http://www.mylabourlaw.net/ and report his actions to the government. If they have a case that can be seen, the government will act and investigate.
Malaysia is a developing country ( Still ) and should have been developed long ago. Too much attention has been given on religion and an appearance of racial unity which is not in reality the same on the ground. I like my regular visits here and I trust that the country has the ability to correct its style of progress.

Should you choose to work here? Sure, why not? Just be smart while here.

Recently a Michael Hughes has been trying to recruit staff for an ESL training project in Malaysia. Applicants should be aware the following.

A. Medical insurance is not free as claimed in the advert, actually it is deducted from your pay and is expensive. Evenmore so if you bring family.

B. At least up to half of the offered yearly bonus is taken by the tax office, making the amount as an incentive pointless. Confusingly different staff have different amonunts taken away from them by the tax office, the tax system is not uniform.

C. The claimed amount for tax might in some instances be 12% for some. The Malaysian tax office takes more than double 12% for the first six months under the claim you are not resident in Malaysia -eventhough you have a residence and work visa. They choose to view you as not resident. The office claims to return the amount of extra tax taken from you for six months but the method of return is vague, difficult to track and the returned amount seems different for all staff.

D. .The project manager has a team of managers in place that were personal friends of his prior to the training project. Cronyism is partiality to long-standing friends, especially by appointing them to positions of authority, regardless of their qualifications. Hence, cronyism is contrary in practice and principle to meritocracy.

Cronyism exists when the appointer and the beneficiary are in social contact; often, the appointer is inadequate to hold his or her own job or position of authority, and for this reason the appointer appoints individuals who will not try to weaken him or her, or express views contrary to those of the appointer

E. The project manager is subject to much debate on this web site under the heading - You wouldnt believe it. https://www.eslteachersunited.org/unitedforum/ the same debate happened on daves ESL website but was closed down.

F. It is questionable and discussed among existing staff as to is the project manager appropriate or actually dooming the project through his inappropriate lack of management ability? Do your homework and decide for yourself.

G. Please be careful, adverts for jobs can promise anything but reality can be very different once you are in place. Allowances offered are uniform, if you are placed in for example Kuala Lumpur, Penang, you allowances are meaningless.

H. Malaysia is a nice enough country, but please do your homework before applying for the job. Check out the tax system. Check out the crime levels regarding robbery, rape and murder, you can do this by trawling through the English language newspaper The Star, online. Check the real cost of living it really is important that you do not arrive expecting a country that is cheap to live in. Check out the driving in Malaysia, it is incredibly dangerous, common sense or safe driving simply does not exist. Check out the laws appiled by internet companies towards foreigners for home broadband, TV, a home phone, usually around 1,000 ringet but free to locals.

Malaysia like any country has good and bad points, if the bad points outnumber the good then trust your instincts, or you might feel the good points are enough.

Do your homework very carefully and then you can decide.