Agent: Oh, cannot, cannot. Owner wants Chinese only.The above conversation is all too familiar if you are on the lookout for rental accommodation but happen to be of a certain race.“I was stressed out, because my previous landlord didn’t renew the tenancy at our rented house in Subang Jaya and my mother had very short notice to look for alternative accommodation,” said Jaya .
Jaya finally managed to secure an apartment unit in Jalan Kuching and in her own words, “a good landlord who is also Chinese”. But what of the real estate agents themselves? Are their rental policies discriminatory or are they themselves under instructions from landlords to only select “certain” tenants?
Jane, who has been in the property line for more than 20 years, feels that racial profiling of tenants should not be practised. “We don’t look at a person’s race or religion, but I do want to know if my renter can take care of my property and not skip rental payments,” she told me.
Can we go across the board on the racism eradication thing?