ABSTRACT
Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia where medical, religious, and ethnic pluralism coexist. This chapter focuses on medical pluralism in Malaysia in policy and practice and argues that medical pluralism is inseparable from ethnic and religious pluralism in contemporary Malaysia. Empirical data was collected through ethnographic fieldwork conducted during February 2018—July 2019 on Penang Island, Selangor State, and Kuala Lumpur. This study found that coexistence of a variety of medical traditions and practices could be found in both the policy and practice in contemporary Malaysia. Western medicine provides mainstream medical care whereas Chinese herbal medicine, acupuncture, Ayurvedic medicine, homeopathic medicine, and traditional Malay herbs and massage are considered traditional and complementary medical practice. The Malaysian government has already set up a Traditional and Complementary Medicine (T&CM) Division under the Ministry of Health to promote, regulate, and monitor the education and practice of T&CM. However, a large share of the national health budget goes to the development and maintenance of the existing health system, which is dominated by Western medical care. The bulk of Malaysian citizens use public healthcare facilities because of the health financing system, which makes T&CM practice increasingly a middle-class, private phenomena.
