UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA (UITM)

CAWANGAN MELAKA KAMPUS ALOR GAJAH

FACULTY BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT

MALAYSIAN ECONOMICS ECO (261)

INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT
CASE STUDY ON CURRENT ISSUE IN MALAYSIA

STUDENT NAME STUDENT NO

NURIN IRDINA BINTI MOHAMAD AMIN 2020619416

GROUP: MBA1115F

PREPARED FOR: MADAM MAYMUNAH BINTI ISMAIL

DATE OF SUBMISSION: 23 DECEMBER 2022

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Firstly, I would like to thank God for giving me direction, answered my prayer when I
need motivation to continue this assignment and try to finish it. I would like to thank my
lecturer, Madam Maymunah binti Ismail for guiding me, giving important information to me
regarding the assignment

Moreover, I would like to thank my parents for always supporting me, giving me
motivation when I am at my lowest and trust in me that I can finish this assignment in time.
They would express their full support by asking about my health and they would make sure
that I would not starve while doing an assignment. Next, I would like to thank my siblings for
always being there for me, keeping me entertained and making a dad joke to me so that I
would not feel depressed. They would also make sure that I am not skipping my prayer
despite how busy I am, and they will remind me every time.

Other than that, I would like to thank all my friends that always answered my question
regarding the assignment if I am stuck at some point and bring joy to my life by giving me a
reason to smile throughout the day. They would give me a word of motivation so that I would
not feel lonely while doing the assignment and they will make sure I can finish this
assignment in the time given.

Lastly, I would like to thank anyone who is involved directly or indirectly in the
completion of my assignment.
TABLE OF CONTENT

NO. CONTENT PAGES

1. ACKNOLEDGEMENT i

2. 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1

3. 2.0 BODY OF CONTENT 2,3

2.1 Case study 1: Chapter 1: Malaysia’s

structural change through past, present,
and future.

Main issue 1: Gross domestic product

increase in 1900 to 1939

Main issue 2: Increase in living standards of

Malaysians

4. 2.2 Case study 2: Chapter 2: Vision of 3,4

Malaysia 2020 and the importance of
democracy, justice, liberty, and the well-
being of the people in making a vision of
Malaysia.

Main issue 1: Democracy and liberty is one of

the pillars in vision of Malaysia

Main issue 2: Justice and well-being of the

people is the pillars in vision of Malaysia

5. 3.0 REFERENCES 5
1.0 INTRODUCTION

The first article that I chose is published on the website of Economic History Malaya.
The title of the article is Malaysia’s structural economic changes from the past, present, and
future of Malaysia. This article will be talking about what happened to Malaysia before
independence and the economic development of Malaysia after independence.

The second article that I chose is published on the website of Free Malaysia Today.
The title of the article is Merdeka is in search of a new vision. This article will be talking
about the vision of Malaysia 2020 also the importance of democracy, justice, liberty, and the
well-being of the people in making a vision of Malaysia.

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2.0 BODY OF CONTENT

2.1 Case study 1: Chapter 1: Malaysia’s structural change through past, present, and
future

Main issue 1: Gross domestic product increase in 1900 to 1939

Private British investors who invested in Malaysia's two main exports, tin, and rubber, saw
significant returns. With the support of the Malay sultans, the British imperial power
promoted the immigration of low-wage workforce from India and China making sure that
wage growth would stay extremely low and the profit on British investments would be
enhanced. In 1900 to 1939 the gross domestic product grew much higher than previous
year about 3.7 percent per year, but Malaysian national income and expenditures increased
significantly more slowly throughout this time, increasing by only 1% annually. The massive
gains made by British business interests when they obtained the economic rights to produce
and export Malaysia's tin and rubber with only minimal tax collections for public services for
the local population, of course, illustrate the disparity in growth between both consumption
and output.

This issue can be related in the chapter 1 of background and introduction to

Malaysian economy under a subtopic of Malaysian economic growth and economic
development. Typically, a country could measure their nation's economic health by
examining its rate of economic development and growth by which will provide a yardstick to
increase in national income per capita. There's evidence that talks about the achievement of
Malaysia in the primary sector that brings a contribution to the national gross domestic
product that we can take this as a lesson to increase our national growth. The reflection of
ups and downs of Malaysia’s real GDP is very much influenced by the cyclical movements of
the global economy as increasing in gross domestic product moving through stages as total
output rises and falls over time.

Main issue 2: Increase in living standards of Malaysians

After Malaysia got independence in 1957, there is a significant rise in living standards of
Malaysians and there is a decline in poverty because of the forming of an era in political,
social, and economic change. In 1970, Malaysia government implemented the New
Economic Policy, which sought to achieve wide social inclusion while pursuing the Malay
community particularly in opposition to the more urban and richer Chinese population. This
in turn will make Malaysia more developed than another ethnic group. At the beginning of a
fifth era of transformation, Malaysia sees itself as being accurately defined by the UN's

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Agenda 2030 which aims to develop a sustainable development that combines economic
growth with social inclusion and environmental sustainability. It is the goal of the
internationally adopted Agenda 2030 and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
that are a component of Agenda 2030 provide more specific and quantitative information
about the three pillars of sustainable development—economic, social, and environmental.

This issue can be related in the chapter 1 of background and introduction to

Malaysian economy under a subtopic Malaysia’s economic structural changes: Pre-
and Post-independence. It states that after independence, there is 4 periods on the
changing trends of the Malaysian economic structure that is between 1960 and 1970,
between 1970 and 1980, between 1980 and 1990 and from 1990 until 2016. Between 1970
and 1980, New economic policy was established by the government to eradicate poverty
that has been rise during that time. This strategy has given a positive outcome towards
gross domestic product as purchasing power of the people has increase throughout the era
of post-independence.

2.2 Case study 2: Chapter 2: Vision of Malaysia 2020 and the importance of
democracy, justice, liberty, and the well-being of the people in making a vision of
Malaysia.

Main issue 1: Democracy and liberty is one of the pillars in vision of Malaysia

Democracy is one of the pillars in vision of Malaysia that emphasises on the freedom of
society in making decisions, expressing their opinion, freedom of association and many
more that the government of Malaysia should pay attention in order to succeed in Vision of
Malaysia. Next, a state of liberty is referred to as liberty, particularly when compared to
political tyranny, captivity, or slavery while a civil liberty is the elimination of unnecessary
restrictions and the guarantee of a bundle of values, such as those found in bills of rights,
statutes, and legal rulings and a growing number of people now define liberty in terms of
privacy and access to the economy.

This issue can be related in the chapter 2 under a subtopic of Vision 2020 that
explained about the nine challenges of vision 2020 to make Malaysia as a united nation that
the government stated that a long-term plan is necessary for Malaysia to become a
developed nation during the 1991 Sixth Plan presentation. Other than that, democracy
should be included in the making of vision of Malaysia that explained about a system of
government where the community has the power to decide legislation and debate the issues

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that arise in the country. Democracy is being used as one of the strategies that government
has implement in order to give power to the citizens to voice their views in the economy as
well as their opinion in the political. Meanwhile, liberty is the condition of being liberated from
oppressive constraints placed by authorities on one's actions, speech, or political beliefs
within society. Liberty should be given freely to the society as citizens will have a free in
doing anything without any restraints from any parties.

Main issue 2: Justice and well-being of the people is the pillars in vision of Malaysia

A feeling of justice involves fairness, rights, equality, and receiving what one is entitled to.
Justice is sometimes associated with fairness, as in treating people fairly, paying workers
fairly, compensating victims fairly of damage, and so forth. It may be difficult to define
fairness precisely, but it involves treating similar circumstances similarly and treating distinct
cases proportionately to their differences. Meanwhile, the well-being of the people is also
one of the pillars in making the Vision of Malaysia that needs to be taken care by the
government to have an increase in economic development. Well-being of the people
includes the number of years of healthy life expectancy, family Net Worth, a sense of
security and safety and many more. All the factors in the well-being of the people might be
one of the reasons that the government ignored that can be a huge problem to the society
and government as this problem can lead to a recession in the economy.

This issue can be related in chapter 2 under a subtopic of Vision 2020 that a
feeling of justice should be included in the vison of 2020 in order to succeed in the vision of
Malaysia. A feeling of justice is regardless of whether they are personally involved or not,
how people feel or perceive the justice or unjustness of a scenario they are in. A feeling of
injustice by someone would make them feel unheard of their opinion on certain aspects.
Besides that, well-being of the people is also important in making a successful of vision of
Malaysia that highlight on the person's physical, mental, emotional, and social health
aspects as it is a complicated mixture in the well-being of the people in the society.

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4.0 REFERENCES

Group, T. W. (2022, October 14). Shared Prosperity: Monitoring Inclusive Growth.

Retrieved from The World Bank:
https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/poverty/brief/global-database-of-shared-
prosperity
Jamal, U. (2021, January 16). Malaysia missed its Vision 2020 goal of industrialization:
What went wrong? Retrieved from ASEAN Today:
https://www.aseantoday.com/2021/01/malaysia-missed-its-vision-2020-goal-of-
industrialization-what-went-wrong/
Kathirasen, A. (2022, September 2). Merdeka: in search of a new vision. Retrieved from
freemalaysiatoday:
https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/opinion/2022/09/02/merdeka-in-search-
of-a-new-vision/
Sachs, P. J. (2022). Malaysia's structural economic change: past, present, and future.
Retrieved from Economic History Malaya:
https://www.ehm.my/publications/articles/malaysias-structural-economic-change-
past-present-and-future
Team, T. I. (2021, January 1). What Is Economic Growth and How Is It Measured?
Retrieved from Investopedia:
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/e/economicgrowth.asp

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