Scary stories about Christian bogeymen out to convert Muslims, sexily dressed women subjecting themselves to rape, and other tall tales that polarise society, are sowing the seeds that will make Malaysia a country of idiots, an academician said.

National University of Singapore professor Syed Farid Al-Attas said while the majority of Malaysians do not believe such myths, the fact that it is being perpetuated by political and religious elites, is a bad sign for Malaysians.

"My father (Gerakan co-founder Syed Hussein Al-Attas), was fearful that our society would be dominated by a kind of elite he called 'Jadong, or jahat, bodoh and sombong' (evil, stupid, and arrogant)... who controls the discourse and are extremely unsophisticated.