Migration, regional development and employment in Peninsular Malaysia - the case of Negeri Sembilan Timur
Selvaratnam, V.; Dissanayake, B.W.
IDA Discussion Paper, Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex 73: 27
1975
Document Number: 457782
In many Third World countries rapid population growth and an increasing labour force have brought a shift from the 'subsistence sector' to the 'modern capitalist sector'. This shift has reached endemic proportions and has brought about far-reaching consequences to which Peninsular Malaysia is no exception. The high rate of rural-urban migration has led to increased unemployment and under-employment, housing shortages and widening disparities in income both within urban centres and between rural and urban areas. In response, the Government has launched a regional development programme based on growth centres, of which Negeri Sembilan Timur is one. This survey demonstrated that this region may encounter a serious labour shortage despite considerable unemployment among the young. The authors believe that regional growth centres will not contain out-migration, create employment or raise living standards unless the development strategy pursued takes account of the total economy. Agricultural and agro-based industrial projects have to be developed, but this process of agricultural change and modernization can only be achieved within an improved framework of rural institutions complemented by vigorous and persistent action on the part of the government in association with the people.