ABOUT 98.4% of Malaysians have friends of other races, a poll conducted by UCSI University found. 

The Social Harmony 2021 poll was conducted by the UCSI Poll Research Centre with 971 respondents.

“The results showed 19.9% of the respondents have more than half of their friends of other races whereas 41.5% of the respondents have some (between 11% and 50%), 37.0% of the respondents have a few (between 1% and 10%), and 1.6% of the respondents do not have a friend of other races,” the university said in a statement.

The poll also asked the participants about their perception of understanding and unity among races in the country.

About 19.9% said they have an excellent understanding, 28.8% answered good, 42.6% said fair and 8.7% said they have a poor understanding.

More than 50% of the respondents said they met friends of other races through education institutions, the poll found.

“(Most met through) school, college, or university (51.4%), followed by workplace (28.0%), event and social activities (9.1%), sports activities (7.2%), and neighbourhood (4.3%).”

Many also agreed that the best way to improve the relationship among races was through education.

About 77.6% said race relations can be improved through education, 69.6% said through sports, 67.8% said media and 48.4% said through arts.

An overwhelming number of people polled – 72% – also agreed that a lack of open-mindedness towards other races is the reason there is a gap among the races. 

This was followed by politics (63.4%), language (58.4%) and education (35.4%). – September 17, 2021.