The Economy of Malaysia

As many will be aware about 60% of Malaysia's economy is owned and controlled by foreigners. The foreign exploitation by multinational companies from United Kingdom, United States and Japan is one of the root causes of the squatters. The foreign corporate owners possesses 1,262,8 million acres, or 73.5%, of the total agricultural land and about 87% of the industrial land. This leads to a migration of rural folk to the urban areas in search of jobs. With low wages and high rents, these people have to resort to cheap shelter, living as squatters on government land.

The foreign domination of Malaysia's economy and the unequal distribution of wealth in Malaysia are the main factors relating to the squatters problems in Malaysia. Unless these two defects are corrected in Malaysia, there are bound to be housing problems in Malaysia. But we are yet to know the next person to be blamed in the squatters issue...

We conclude this article with an article reprinted from Utusan Consumer June 1976. Official Publication of the Consumer Association of Penang.