KUALA LUMPUR, Jan. 29 -- Sixty-six per cent of Malaysians polled said it is very important to have a national leader who has the same religious beliefs as they do, a study by global pollster Pew Research Center has found.
The report titled "Comparing Levels of Religious Nationalism Around the World" also showed that 51 per cent of Malaysian respondents said it was very important to have a national leader who has strong religious beliefs, even if those beliefs are different from their own.
"People in middle-income countries are also more likely to be religious nationalists.
"In 13 of the 17 middle-income countries surveyed, there are double-digit shares of religious nationalists and these shares reach around a third or more in Kenya (32 p...