【Triple Play episode 5 season 1 - Joe and Mandi】

What's in a name?Triple Play episode 5 season 1 - Joe and Mandi A lot apparently, if this first grader's exam question is anything to go by.

The question, which came up on a paper given to seven-year-olds in Malaysia, asked students to match up names with various places of worship.

SEE ALSO: Bill Nye's new correspondent whose stereotype-challenging work you need to see

They were given four names: Devi, Hock Lee, Kamal and Steve, representative of stereotypical names of people in four of the country's main race groups -- Indian, Chinese, Malay and Caucasian respectively.

They were asked to match them up to the "correct" place of worship.

The girl matched Devi up to the church, Steve up to the Hindu temple, Kamal to the Chinese temple and Hock Lee to the mosque.

All four of her answers were marked wrong.

"My friend's 7-year-old daughter apparently scored badly. I'm so furious at this form of racism. How archaic and racist! This is so sad," said Malaysian actress Sarah Lian in a post on Facebook.

The post has since been shared almost 2,000 times.

Malaysia is a Muslim-majority country, but also has a large population of Chinese and Indians Credit: Thian/AP/REX/Shutterstock

Some were quick to support Lian.

"Thank you for pointing out the racism in our education system. Its rare to have someone say this openly," said one netizen on Facebook.

Mashable Trend Report Decode what’s viral, what’s next, and what it all means. Sign up for Mashable’s weekly Trend Report newsletter. By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up!

"This is so so wrong. Devi may well be a Christian attending church...[while] Hock Lee enters the mosque to pray after adopting the Muslim faith," said one user.

But others disagreed.

"Is this racial profiling or an attempt at educating a child about diversity?" one asked.

"How is this racism? So what if they stereotype a person'a name with religion -- if you meet [someone named] Muthu in real life go ask him if he's Hindu or not," another said.

Buddhists make up almost 20% of Malaysia's population Credit: Mark Baker/AP/REX/Shutterstock

However, the father of the child, who attends a school in the Malaysian district of Petaling Jaya, told Mashable that he didn't think the school was particularly at fault.

"I think my girl's innocent answers were spot on, but as far as I'm aware [this question] was part of [the school's] syllabus and they're doing their job, it's a good school," Arvin Gold said.

"I'm not bothered about how she scored in this subject."

Gold adds that he only uploaded the photo on Facebook because he was using his daughter's bad grade to "poke fun at his wife."

"[I was joking to my wife] that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. I wasn't expecting this...my posts [usually only cause] funny and friendly banter among friends."

However, the post has definitely caught further attention than originally intended.

Joseph Kurup, a minister in the Prime Minister's department, called for the Education Ministry to punish the offending teacher.

"The teacher who came up with such a misguided notion...that one can assume one's religion by looking at one's name...should be disciplined," he told the Malay Mail Online.

"If the case is genuine and left unchecked, the younger generation will be seriously misguided."

---

Featured Video For You

---

South African students speak out against racist ban on afro hair and win

---

• Social Good
• Digital Culture
• Science
• Deals
• Games
• Entertainment
• Shopping
• Life

• CES 2025: How to buy (and save $390 on) the Dreame X50 Ultra robot vacuum
• A message from the robot who now runs Facebook's trending topics
• 23 reasons to watch 'Don't Trust the B in Apartment 23'
• Here's how you can help migrants waiting at the U.S.
• New 'browser syncjacking' cyberattack lets hackers take over your computer via Chrome
• Let shipping forecast compilations lull you to sleep
• Marriott data breach affects 500 million Starwood customers
• Amazon faces backlash after running shady baby registry ad campaign
• Best air purifier deal: Save $300 on the Dyson HEPA Big + Quiet air purifier
• Solving the 'black box' problem: Learning how AI makes decisions

• Salt & Straw's 2021 Gone Viral Limited Edition Pack tasted as weird as this year felt
• The 10 most downloaded apps of 2021
• Everything to know about Boba Fett before Disney's 'Boba Fett' miniseries
• Amazon's AWS is wreaking havoc on the internet again
• James Shaw Jr. had breakfast with the March For Our Lives crew
• Poet Amanda Gorman publishes a somber but hopeful poem for the New Year
• Chrissy Teigen has broken down the 3 universal stages of Yanny/Laurel
• 5 reasons a manufactured home could be your first dream home
• Cozy and boozy Mother's Day gift ideas
• Being subtweeted by Dwight Schrute is the only good way to get subtweeted

• Best Echo Show 5 deal: Save $20 at Amazon
• New Withings fitness watch adds heart rate sensor and notifications
• Grab ties up with traditional cab company to edge out Uber
• Jim Parsons' major Instagram slip up ruined Kaley Cuoco's surprise birthday
• Many Indigenous communities still lack broadband internet. Here's why.
• Gmail stopped Smart Compose from suggesting pronouns because of sexism
• 10 gift ideas for 'The Simpsons' fan in your life
• Now any rich idiot can run their own Bird scooter empire
• Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Kids: $139.99 at Amazon
• Colin Kaepernick's protest is the latest from athletes in the era of Black Lives Matter

• Did Elon Musk push former FAA leader out? Trump admin responds after deadly plane crash
• Praise be! Margaret Atwood is finally writing a sequel to 'The Handmaid's Tale'
• Korean supplier prosecuted fro selling Samsung's
• Refusal to remove cowboy hat is totally worth the suspension
• Houston Rockets vs. Dallas Mavericks 2025 livestream: Watch NBA online
• Calvin Harris uses someone else's birthday to remind you he works out
• 23 reasons to watch 'Don't Trust the B in Apartment 23'
• Social senior dog walks 4 miles every day to catch up with all his friends
• Celtic vs. Bayern Munich 2025 livestream: Watch Champions League for free
• Sheryl Sandberg asked Facebook staff to research George Soros: report