Justice and the Malaysian policy for inculcating national integration: Perceptions of the new generation

Moulding nation building and national competitiveness in a plural society such as Malaysia relies heavily on policies of national integration which are seen and perceived as just by the various ethnic groups concerned. This article discusses the perceptions of the Malaysian youth regarding this justice issue. The perceptions of 600 multiethnic Malaysian youths comprising students from secondary schools and higher education institutions (HEIs) in the Klang Valley were gauged using a survey instrument with alpha value of 0.831. The study found positive perceptions of justice among the youths, and that these perceptions bore no direct relationships with a number of selected demographic variables ( age, ethnicity, place of origin, parental education). In sum, the perceptions of the new generation in Malaysia with regard to national policies for national integration call for critical and creative assessments by the government if the policies’ objective of national integration is to be truly achieved.