Poverty and rural development in Malaysia

• Main Author: Ungku Abdul Aziz, Ungku Abdul Hamid
• Format: Other
• Published: Nil 1963
• Subjects: H Social Sciences (General); HC Economic History and Conditions
• Online Access: http://commonrepo.um.edu.my/12392/6/Poverty%20and%20Rural%20Development%20in%20Malaysia.pdf; http://commonrepo.um.edu.my/12392/

What is rural development? Why have poverty and rural development become vital topics in our world today? What are the causes of poverty and what are the effects to the community? Approximately we may say that the people living outside the towns or areas gazette as town boards are the rural people. However, there are people whose economic and social characteristics are similar to the urban people in their midst. Hence, in order to simplify the discussion, the rural people are restricted to the group neither belong to the barter system nor do they make elaborate use of money. The mining and the estate worker, as well as the government servants, are excluded from this discussion as they tend to have relatively high MV per capita. The common interpretation of poverty is always related to lower income group. In the author’s interpretation, poverty always arises because of the inequality in the distribution of income and wealth. There are four aspects of poverty which can be considered. Firstly, the problem of measuring poverty, objectively. Secondly, certain measurable socio-economic characteristics that are associated with poverty. Thirdly, the aetiology of poverty and lastly, the inhibiting effects of poverty. In order to eliminate poverty in the rural area, it is necessary to understand what the underlying causes are. The problem has been rooted since the colonial period. The exploitation by the moneylenders and the agency houses, the monopoly and monopsony system, the government policy which protected the migrants and the sole distributors but neglected the rural people, have deepened the problem of poverty even though after the independence. When the development has reached its limit in a geographical area, it cannot grow any further. The income cannot be raised anymore. Hence the cooperation between the rural people and the government is very much needed to overcome the problem. What can we do for rural development? Ungku has made some proposal about the ways of rural development. The old systems of Bagi-Dua and the truck system should be abolished. He urged the Government to implement laws that will protect the rural people by improving the employee working conditions and to set a minimum wage floor. A new system is needed to replace or to break into the M-M system in the rural areas. Cooperation stands as the most suitable institution to take over the old systems, with the support from the Government. However, Ungku also stressed that the genuine competition would only exist when there are three sectors in the market, the public, private and cooperative.