Week 3&5&7&8 discussions - Coursework Example

Just before the 16th century ended Islam had spread through conversion and had surpassed Buddhism and Hinduism as the most dominant religion of Sumatra and Java peoples. Initially the spread of Islam was driven mostly by increased trade links. The second factor that led to the dominance of Islam as a religion was the role played by missionaries (Sufis).Thus the Sufis played a major role by spreading the religion by syncretising of Islamic ideas with the existing local religious notions and beliefs.

Eventually Islam was embraced by the ruling classes which greatly helped the permeation of the faith throughout the whole region. Islam is still dominant in Indonesia where it harbors 12.7% of all the world’s Muslims. 2. Muslims in Malaysia have rejected Islamic Fundamentalism because of its hard line policies and amid fears that the country could plunge into religious extremism, instability and terrorism. Some Malaysians therefore fear there could be rise in religious fundamentalism if Islamic Fundamentalism was accepted.

Over the years Malaysia has detained several suspected terrorist, some of which are linked to al-Qaeda. 3. Ethic Chinese economic success dates back to several centuries ago. It is true that many Chinese people are good entrepreneurs and they are always willing to work hard and smart for money. This has led to their being discriminated against by the locals in several SE Asian countries such as Indonesia. Another economic success factor of the ethic Chinese is that they have a free market under a communist rule.

The fact that ethic Chinese businessmen are dealing with America, means they are owed trillions of dollars by America. Dealing with America has made them very rich and successful. Several Chinese Company owners are super rich whereas low class is struggling since they are paid very little for their labor. China does not have tough employment laws and thus has very cheap available, which ensures very high profits. 4. Singapore