Introduction History of Malaysia Scientists have found archaeological confirmation of human population in the Niah caves in Sarawak about

40,000 years ago. The initial proof of population on the Malay Penunsula that has been found is from about 10,000 years ago. Most scholars believe the earliest settlers on the Malay Peninsula come overland from Southern China in small groups over a period of thousands of years (Kiat.net, 2012) After 1,000BC metal using farmers came to Malaya, they made tools from bronze and iron and they settled along the coast and along rivers. They lived partly by fishing, partly by growing crops. In the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD centralised states arose in Malaya. The greatest was Kedah in the north. The Malayan became highly civilised whereby it is heavily influenced by India. (Malayan traded with India from the 3rd century AD. After that contact with India was common). Malayan laws and writing show Indian influence. The religions of Buddhism and Hinduism were also introduced into Malaya at the time (Tiew,2003).

Golden Age of Melaka (1400-1511) Melaka also spelled as Malacca is a city steeped in history founded in 1400 by a fleeing Palembang prince named Parameswara. He founded it at the end of the 14th century. He became the ruler of Temasik on Singapore Island. According to the legend when he was hunting a mouse deer turned and kicked on of his dogs. Paramesara took this an omen and decided to found a settlement there. Since he was standing under a Melaka tree at the time he named it Melaka (Local Histories, 2012). It rose from a village of royal refugees to a wealthy kingdom and international centre for the spice trade. In mid 1400s, Melaka became a Muslim kingdom. During the 15th century the new settlement prospered and grew. The great wealth of the city state of Melaka came to the notice of the Portuguese. Thus, began a colonial legacy that would last well into the 20 th century (Local Histories, 2012). Colonial Era Malaysia was once a colonised land. Although it is classified as one of the Commonwealth countries, as it was a former British colony, it was subjected by other powers for approximately 446 years (from 1511 until 1957). The Portuguese, Dutch, British, Japanese and even the Siamese had been colonizing almost the whole country. However, only the British and the Japanese succeeded in colonizing almost the whole country and left an impact on the people. The others merely concentrated on certain states. The colonial era reflects the attraction of the country and of the Malay Archipelago to the foreign countries. (Local Histories, 2012).

Colonists and the Features of Domination Portuguese (1511-16441) It was mainly Malacca, was opposed by the Malays of Malacca with the aid of Acheh they did not leave behind many traces, except in the areas of languages and dance. Dutch (1641-1824) It was also mainly in Malacca and did not leave many traces. Focused on colonizing Indonesia, was opposed by the Malays who frequently received help from the Bugis. British (1824-1957) British colonized the whole of Peninsula Malaysia. They left behind significant influence on the way of the life of the people (political, economic and social). It was strongly opposed by the countrys population. Japanese They colonized the entire country. They also greatly influence the life of the people especially in terms of relations between the races and were opposed by the whole country. The factors for colonizing Malaysia are closely tied to the vast natural resources and other sources of wealth much sought after by the colonialists. Furthermore, the Malay Archipelago was also a place for them to extend their political influence and Christian faith. Independence from British From the 1890s the British invested heavily in what was the called Malaya, developing transportation and rubber plantation. Coupled with the power of the White Rajahs in Borneo, Britain ruled over Malaya until 1941 when the Japanese invaded Malaya and captures

Singapore in early 1942. Japan occupied British Malaya and much of Asia until losing the war in 1945. World War II and its aftermath brought the end of British Rule. After World War II ended in 1945, the British tried unsuccessfully to organize Malaya into one state due to a mature independence movement organized as an alliance under YTM Tunku Abdul Rahman. This led to the birth of nationalism, which opposed a colonial status, in 1946, the United Malay National organization (UMNO) was established. Britain dissolved the Straits Settlements in 1946. In 1948, the kingdoms on the Malay Peninsula, plus Melaka and the island of Penang united to form the Federation of Malaya, a partially independent territory under British protection. Singapore, North Borneo and Sarawak became separate crown colonies. In the same year the Malayan Community Party was formed and began a guerrilla uprising against the British that because known as the Emergency. With Malay help, the British finally subdued the Emergency in 1960, three years after independence. In 1955, the Malayan Chinese Association (MCA) joined UMNO in an anticommunist, anti-colonial coalition that won 51 of 52 parliamentary seats. The British relinquished their powers, and in 1957 the Federation of Malaya had gained complete independence from Britain. Singapore, which had a mostly Chinese population, remained outside the federation as a British crown colony. Peninsula Malaysia became an independent nation called Malaya in 1957. When the British flag was finally lowered in Kuala Lumpurs Dataran Merdeka in 1957, Tunku b ecame the first prime minister of Malaysia (Tiew, 1998). Economic Development Policy Development is highly complex as well as in implementation. As an independent and sovereign country Malaysia had launched a unique national development policy. The basic objective of development is to improve the quality of the life of the people. Economic

development is always tied to changes in income. Normally, increase in national or per capita income or the monthly incomes of a citizen are indicators or signs of economic development.

National development policy Before independence When the British ruled Malaya, there was no national development policy aimed at taking care of the welfare of the people under their rule. The colonialists at the time concentrated only on economic activities like the rubber industry and tin mining in the Peninsula, petroleum and black paper in Sabah. It had been the colonialists policy to exploit the conquered land of its products and profits and to bring them back to their homeland. Economic activities got worse with the colonialists open door policy of allowing foreign labour to carry out the economic activities thus creating three obviously different types of economies based on race. The Chinese monopolised tin mining, the Indians, the rubber estates and the Malays, agriculture. As centres of mining activity that gave substantial returns to the economic interests of the colonial masters, these mining and urban areas were supplied with minimum basic facilities. In other words, during the colonial period, development was confined only to urban. This unbalanced development policy also gave birth to a Malaysia society, in which the ethnic groups can be identified through their economic activities. After independence Malaysia inherited after independence, the leftovers of the colonialists development policies. The main challenge that confronted the Alliance government after independence was to develop the economy to benefit the countrys own citizens so as to narrow the differential development gap and subsequently to get rid of poverty.

Government planning in achieving the above national development objectives is set out in the national development policies themselves. The national development policies can be found in government documents, known as the Five Year National Development Plan (NDP), released every five years. The NDP can be considered the main agenda in the planning and implementation of economic development for the people of Malaysia. Every NDP is a national development agenda with definite philosophies, objectives and aims, focus, programs and implementation strategies. Vision 2020 The vision is not a concrete policy from policy perspective but it is a crusade slogan or motto that is a fight based on a slogan picked by the government to empower citizens to transform Malaysia into a developed nation. The targeted developed nation standard is one patterned upon the country itself taking into account the diversity of raves, religion, historical and cultural background, customs and eastern values. The government has allocated a time frame of 30 years from the time of its inception to realise the target. The attempt to product a developed country that is macro in nature is definitely not as easy as shaping and building a human being. But if the process occurs side by side with the potentials of the people regardless of race, supported by different expertise and skills accompanied by allegiance, mutual trust, and sacrifice for the country, tenacity and dedication, this noble can be achieved. The Sixth and Seventh Malaysia Plans considered the gateway and the first 10 years of vision 2020. Consequently, it can be observed that the national development policies and strategies outlined and implemented under these two Malaysian plans are parallel to and in tune with Vision 2020. Furthermore, it can be observed that the challenges outlined in the

Seventh Malaysian Plan are reinforced and complement by the challenges set out in Vision 2020 (Drabble,2001). The Nine Challenges are: 1. Create a Malaysian nation that is united and with common objectives. 2. Create a society that is free, peaceful and advanced, confident of its own capabilities, successfully proud and strong in facing problems. 3. Create and develop a democratic society that is matured and practises a shared philosophy. 4. Create a moral and ethical society with strong religious and spiritual values. 5. Create a society that is tolerant and liberal and free to practise its own customes, culture and religion. 6. Create a scientific and progressive society that is forward-looking and farsighted and is thus able to contribute to improving civilization based on science and technology. 7. Create a caring society and practise a caring culture. 8. Create a society that is the fair in the distribution of national wealth regardless of race. 9. Create a prosperous society with a competitive economy. Although this country was shaken by the world economic slowdown at the end of the Seventh Malaysian plan, the stable economic foundation laid by the NEP and further far reinforced as planning by the Outline Perspective Plan 2 (OPP2) through the Sixth and Seventh Malaysia Plans, have so far managed to protect the countrys economy. In the Malaysia context, economic development succeeded in providing social peace and guaranteeing national unity. It is certain all this did not happen coincidentally but was

produced since a long time by Malaysians from all walks of life that have learned from pas experiences and further strengthened by the younger generation.

Conclusion The essence of the national development policies was development for prosperity for all through the distribution of wealth with the ultimate aim to create an integrated society. Development policies that were promoted through Five Year Development Plans also had the purpose of correcting the imbalance in development based on sector, territory and community. Any disregard for these aspects can jeopardize the construction of a Malaysian national community that is multi-ethnic in nature. The 13 May 1969 bloody incident is a lesson and reminder to all. Indeed, development in Malaysia is not measured only by the increase in income per capita or increase in the Gross National Domestic Product or the sustained rate of economic growth. Prosperity that can be commonly enjoyed without giving risk to feeling of envy or suspicion will create a harmonious society. National prosperity can be further enhanced by peaceful living environment. Development efforts or policies brought about by the government would find it hard to achieve success without the support and cooperation from all strata of the society. In the context of Malaysia, participation from all praiseworthy spirit of citizens will be tolerance, loyalty, compromise, cooperation, readiness to learn from past experience, sensitivity as well as respect for past history.

References Drabble,J.H. (2001). An Economic History of Malaysia, c. 1800-1900: The Transition to Modern Economic Growth. Journal of Social Science 4(3), 32-60. Kiat.net (2012). History of Malaysia. Retrieved from http://kiat.net/malaysia/history.html on 12th April 2013. Local Histories (2012). A brief History of Malaysia. Retrieved from http://localhistories.org/malaysia.html on 12th April 2013. Tiew, W.S. (1998). History of journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (JMBRAS) 1878-1997. Malaysian Journal of Library and Information Science 4(1), 43-60. Tiew, W.S. (2003). Malaysian Historical Journals (1847-1966): A Bibliometric Study. Malaysian Journal of Library and Information Science 8(1), 19-43.