KUALA LUMPUR: The Indian community in Malaysia has long been grappling with challenges in finding suitable housing, a problem exacerbated by racial discrimination.
A recent incident highlights the difficulties faced by the Indian community when seeking to rent homes or rooms.
A Malaysian Indian woman, who is a verified user on X and has garnered 11.4k followers under the handle @ayividinihsrad, recently shared her experiences in trying to secure rental accommodation in the country.
She claimed that she had reached out to 300 different agents and landlords, but encountered consistent rejection.
"As of today, I have contacted approximately 300 agents and landlords who rejected my rental applications solely based on my ethnicity. My religion is not a factor.
"What's disheartening is that every person who turned down my requests, despite my solid credit history and a reputable track record of maintaining cleanliness, happened to be Malaysian Chinese," she wrote.
"It's okay if you don't quote my tweet. This isn't about the engagement," she added.
@ayividinihsrad also shed light on the internal issue of racism within the Indian community, where some Indian landlords were found to be rejecting Indian tenants as well.
She remarked, "Yes, there are some who engage in this practice of rejecting Indian tenants. Unfortunately, internal racism is a real concern."
@ayividinihsrad's account has brought to the forefront the ongoing struggles of the Indian community in Malaysia, highlighting the urgent need for addressing racial discrimination in the housing market.
Her post has garnered close to 500,000 views at the time of publication.
Several netizens have pointed out that the issue could be attributed to stereotypes associated with Indians, including playing loud music, drinking, excessive noise at odd hours, smoke pollution, inability to pay rent on time, and poor hygiene.
"I can understand the agony, but is it fair to generalise the entire community based on the actions of certain individuals?" @barathiSelwam10 said.
The New Straits Times has reached out to @ayividinihsrad for further details.