INCOME INEQUALITY IN MALAYSIA: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF MALAY AND CHINESE MALAY PERSPECTIVES

Abstract

Income inequality in Malaysia, driven by historical colonial policies and preferential ethnic initiatives, continues to persist as a pressing concern. This study examines the enduring consequences of the 1971 Bumiputera policy, which aimed to uplift the ethnic Malay population but inadvertently led to significant emigration among non-Bumiputera citizens due to education and employment restrictions. The policy, with its emphasis on Bumiputera share ownership and employment quotas, left a lasting impact on the ethnic composition of Malaysia's urban and rural areas. In contemporary Malaysia, ethnic discrimination is most evident in business communities and the middle class, where interethnic business partnerships play a pivotal role. This study highlights instances of Malay partners securing advantages in government-allocated business opportunities while ethnic Chinese partners leverage their access to capital and business expertise. Examining the average growth rates of different ethnic groups reveals disparities, with Bumiputera experiencing the highest growth in real income per adult, followed by Indians, and Chinese facing negative growth. These inequalities have fueled resentment among ethnic communities and prompted a significant outflow of skilled Chinese Malaysians overseas, resulting in a shortage of highly skilled labor in Malaysia.