Racist Landlords Will Soon Be Subjected To A New Anti-Discrimination Law
The law is being drafted following several cases of rental discrimination in Malaysia.
By Tamara Jayne — 29 Jan 2019, 03:18 PM
Malaysia is setting up a new anti-discrimination law against racist landlords following several cases of rental discrimination in the country
In December, a Chindian man in Penang was not allowed to rent a room because he was not 'Chinese enough'.
Despite being able to speak Mandarin, Divyang Hong was told by the landlord that they "don't rent out to mixed people".
Netizens later relayed similar experiences of their own to him.
Following the cases, Housing and and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin said that a Residential Tenancy Act is being drafted to protect both landlords and tenants from ethnic discrimination
The Ampang MP added that the law will follow a similar one in Scotland, Free Malaysia Today reported.
In addition, the government will be focusing on implementing the rent-to-own scheme
The concept, which has been successfully adopted by Penang and Selangor, will begin with a property fair in March.
The Star reported that 180 property developers will offer 22,000 properties worth RM22.5 billion at the fair.
Out of that number, 24% of properties will cost less than RM300,000.
