COMMENT | Will Residential Tenancy Act stop racism in property market?

“I don’t see how the law can fix this problem as people will still have their prejudices. It does not fix the core issue. (It’s just important) to not judge people by their skin colour.”

- Shalini Yeap, freelance writer

COMMENT | A young woman wrote to me recently, describing her experience of attempting to rent a house for her family and the overt racism she faced from landlords who declined to rent to her merely because she was Indian.

Sharing various texts and emails, this was not something sub rosa, indeed many of the landlords openly said they only rent to Chinese families. This was not stated in the listings this woman answered and her real estate agent, who was Chinese, warned her that this may be an issue.

She finally contemplated paying more after "negotiating" with a prospective landlord who was willing to make "allowances" for a higher rate but her teenage children talked her out of it.

As of writing, she has found a place but this experience has left a profound impression on a young mother who once considered herself Bangsa Malaysian.

Apparently, there is a proposed Residential Tenancy Act that is supposed to be tabled next year and one of the issues this Act is supposed to address is...