Health, Women's Work, and Industrialization - Center for Gender in ...

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Until recently, wages have not ri sen to keep up wi th i nfl at; on. Th; s
has been attributed both to "excess" 1 abor supply in the 1960s and the
deliberate policy of wage restraint, to attract foreign investment.
Currently, the government has embarked upon a "Second I ndustri al
Revolution," to upgrade the level of technology and labor skills.
In Malaysia, the communal tensions continued to dominate the political
mood of the country after the secession of Singapore from the Federation.
The ethnic division of labor persisted with the Malays in agriculture and
government, the Indians in export a9riculture, and the Chinese in petty
commodity production. Foreign capital controlled 70% of the land and 60% of
the manufacturing sector (~l.H. Lim 1982).
In the wake of the race riots of 1969, the government began to reassess
the entire question of economic growth in relation to vociferous Malay
demands for a greater share in the country's wealth. As in Si ngapore,
economic progress was seen as a solution to political problems. The New
Economic Policy (NEP) was conceived to reduce poverty, especially in rural
areas, and to reduce racial imbalance. Realizing that the limit of growth
vi a import-substituti on was bei ng reached, the government began to seek
industrialization based on expansion of exports.
Export-oriented industrialization (EOI) was adopted at a time when
capital was becoming increasingly international ized. By the time EOI was
being initiated in Malysia, there had already been the early successes of
Hong Kong, Taiwan, and South Korea to emula teo Malaysia followed them to
Singapore, with the promulgation of various financial incentives for foreign
investment. The state of Penang was the first to subscribe by developing in
1972 the Bayan Lepas Free Trade Zone (FTZ), the first one in Malaysia.
As long as there were no mi nimum wage 1 aws and only a few urbani zed
areas with well-developed infrastructures, foreign investors located their
factories around Penang and Kuala Lumpur. Drawing on the available
workforce nearby, they hired a largely Chinese workforce. Nevertheless,
since the major objectives of the NEP consisted of increasing Bumiputra
participation in the market economy and of improving regional distribution
of income and jobs, the Malaysian government had to play an active role in
employment and i ndustri al 1 ocati on pol i ci es. The government requi red the
compani es to hi re a percentage of "Bumi sOl representati ve of Bumi presence in
the general population at all levels of the company operations. The
consequence has been one of extensive migration of Malays, especially women,
into the urban areas, adding to those migrating to escape rural poverty.
In the 1970s, Malaysia also became a symbol of successful economic
development in the eyes of the world. Spectacular growth was seen in the
development of industrial zones, in female employment in labor-intensive
assembl ies, and in the manufacturing sector. Most of the new jobs were in
electronics, textiles, and agriculture-based industries. In contrast to
Singapore, the government has provided relatively little in the way of
infrastructural supports and social welfare services.