In my Malaysian primary school (US elementary) at around the equivalent of 6th grade, the Malay kids (all required to be Muslim by law) are taken out of the main class and given specific religious education.  Almost overnight and quite imperceptibly, kids who you grew up with and were your friends start telling you things like “Go back to your country.”  They also start dressing differently – the boys start wearing long pants and the girls the hijab.  Malays are referred to as buniputera and bumiputeri, translated as princes and princesses of the world.  That doesn’t leave people like me in a great position.  Islam is often used as a method to influence politics and policies.

Malaysia has always had an identity crisis in terms of how to approach matters of state and faith.  Is it a secular or religious one?  It has never really figured it out, it is probably a hybrid.

Religious indoctrination is not limited to one faith.  At church once in an adult Sunday School class, the teacher said the US should adopt more Christian or Biblical principles in its governance.  I was in my very early 20s at that time, but I knew I had to say something.  So I raise my hand and said not a good idea, how many of you have lived in a country which actually implements this practice?  Of course, this doesn’t sit well with several folk.  I overhear someone at the end of class ask “Is he a Christian?  Is he saved?”