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

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In the 1970s, the island of Penan9 (the one state in Malaysia with a
Chi nese majori ty) was transformed from a dec1 i ni ng port to a manufacturi ng
center. The rationale for focusing on the manufacturing sector was similar
to Si ngapore: the i sl and 1 acked other natural resources, had a 1 egacy of
good infrastructure and urban services, the land cost was low, there was
abundant supply of cheap but literate labor, and airport and port facilities
existed, providing access to regional markets. In 1972, among the island's
400,000 peop 1 e, some 15.18% of the 1 abor force were unemployed. The Bayan
Lepas FTZ was built near the ai rport in 1972, and by 1973, 22 firms in the
electrical machinery, appliances, and apparatus group located there,
accounting for 21.1% of employment.
With Penang as the 1 eader through the 1970s, Mal aysi a saw phenomenal
growth in the electrical/electronic industry. In 1974, 24 out of 35 firms
in Bayan Lepas FTZ were involved in the manufacturing of electrical
machinery, appliances, apparatus, and supplies. Throughout Malaysia, there
was 54 such estab1 i shments (Mi ni stry of Labor and Manpower 1980). In 1982,
there were 172 firms involved in the manufacturing of household radios,
electrical appliances, and miscellaneous electrical apparatus, employing
73,673 workers. Over the 10 years, Penang's population has also more than
doubled, to 911,586.
Because the electronics industry employs large numbers of women,
participation rate of the female labor force in the manufacturing sector is
higher than the overall rate, 38.8% compared with 27.8%. For women aged 15
to 24 the female labor force participation rate is a high 46.9%. The rate
is also high for all ethnic groups and for different marital status
(Malaysia Ministry of Labor and Manpower 1980): 47.5% for Malays, 47.8% for
Chinese, 50.4% for Indian; and 54.7% for Singles, 43.3% for Married. While
women have historically worked in Malaysia, now they are working as wage
labor in large numbers for the first time.
Future job opportunities, however, will be shaped by the controversi a1
educati on pol icy. With the conversion to universal Mal ay-medi um educati on
complete in 1982, fluency in Bahasa Malaysia is now crucial to obtaining
jobs. Such a policy effectively addresses the racial balance in the
occupational structure. It also means that life opportunities for certain
segments of the popul ati on -- especi ally Chi nese and Indi ans from lower
socioeconomic strata (who are usually educated in their own languages) -
have become extremely limited.
Since 1965, both Singapore and Malaysia have become models of economic
development. Yet in many ways they have strengthened some of the
characteristics of the colonial period. The economic growth remains
essenti ally foreign-propelled. The classes born under co10ni al rul e have
become more entrenched. The commercialization of the social relations of
producti on has penetrated more sectors, although remnants of the
pre-capitalist social formation are still important. While there has been
expansi on of mi ddl e c1 ass and of wage 1 abor, petty commodity producti on
still survives rather extensively, and the informal sector absorbs the shock
of capitalist development.