The court case of Lina Joy has generated considerable debates on the internet. One of the objections to her leaving Islam is that allowing her to leave Islam would erode the constitutional definition of a Malay. The crux of the problem is clearly political rather than religious, as pointed out by numerous contributors to the debate.

Many of the arguments used regarding Malay identity are really peculiarly "Malaysian" in dissonance with the wider reality and history. For instance, most of us would presume, or are told that all indigenous Indonesians are culturally Malay. However, in Indonesia, the term Melayu typically denotes only one ethnic group among others.