Vila Somiah, head of research at counter-terrorism think tank Iman Research speaks during a press conference January 24, 2019. — Picture by Mukhriz Hazim

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 24 — Around one in 10 youths agree with violent extremism (VE) or see it as justifiable, said a study on Selangor and Sabah youths today.

The study by counter-terrorism think tank Iman Research also found that Sabahan youths were slightly more likely to endorse violence than their Selangor counterparts.

Iman found that 8.8 per cent of respondents felt “okay” with VE events with no ethnic or religious undertones, but the proportion dropped slightly to 7 per cent for VE that involves such undertones.

However, when it comes to VE related to religious ideology, 8.8 per cent of respondents were fine with it.

When compared between the two states, 9.7 per cent of respondents in Sabah agreed with VE with religious ideology, compared to 8.5 per cent in Selangor.

The findings confirmed a similar study by international think tank Pew Research in 2015 which put the prevalence at roughly 11 per cent.

In comparison, findings from a survey on tolerance and susceptibility to extremism in South-east Asia by Merdeka Center released in November last year said that 28 per cent of Malaysian Muslims showed “violence-receptive” tendencies, or not directly rejecting violence.

The same survey also found that 2 per cent of the respondents said they would participate in VE.

The Merdeka Center poll also found Muslims here also had the highest support of regional terror group Jemaah Islamiyah at 18.1 per cent, and Islamic State at 5.2 per cent.

This comes as an earlier Merdeka Center joint study with Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS) in 2015 showed that three in five Malays identify as Muslims first rather than their ethnic group, or as Malaysians.

Iman’s study employed surveys and focus group discussions with 1,139 youths aged between 18 and 35 in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur, and Sabah.

It also found that “dark traits” such as manipulativeness and ethnocentrism are factors that more significantly drive youths to endorse VE.