In Malaysia's case, it's more because of the way race and by association religion is split almost 50-50 among the local population. The result is that Malaysia

In Malaysia's case, it's more because of the way race and by association religion is split almost 50-50 among the local population. The result is that Malaysia has a large enough non-Muslim population to avoid becoming a full-blown theocracy like Saudi Arabia, but still have a large enough religious base to be considered a 'conservative' country.