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UMI University Microfilms International A Bell & Howell Information Company 3 0 0 Nortfi Z eeb Road, Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 USA 313/761-4700 800/521-0600 Order Number 8907237 Indigenizing the state: The New Economic Policy and the Bumiputera State in Peninsular Malaysia Ho, Khai Leong, Ph.D. The Ohio State University, 1988 Copyright ©1988 by Ho, Khai Leong. All rights reserved. UMI 300 N. Zeeb Rd. Ann Aibor, MI 48106 INDIGENIZING THE STATE; THE NEW ECONOMIC POLICY AND THE BUMIPUTERA STATE IN PENINSULAR MALAYSIA DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of the Ohio State University By Khai Leong Ho, Dip. Ed., B.A., M.A. ***** The Ohio State University 1988 P :ading Committee: % William Liddle Approved By f adley M. Richardson pi'.vid M. Lampton (i- acomo Sani Adviser Department of Political Science Copyright by Khai Leong Ho 1988 To Jiing-Wen 11 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS In a sense, the process of writing (and rewriting) a dissertation is similar to that experienced by Brahms when he was composing his First Symphony — one is at once enthralled and harrowed by the pedigree before him. In comparison, one could only endlessly agonize over the originality and contribution of his own work. While Brahms waited fourteen years to publish his first symphonic work, a doctoral candidate has neither the time nor the necessity to wait that long, if he ever wants to fulfill his academic requirement. This dissertation has no provocation, goal, or ability so grand as those of Brahms ' First Symphony. But my writing experience is miniaturely Brahmsian in two senses. First, I have felt paralysis in the shadows of towering works which constantly stride behind me. The painstaking task of writing added more torment. Second, to the same pioneers I have much to thank for, however. As no artist or writer can escape from the paradigm of his discipline, this study has relied heavily on other similar research, both theoretical and empirical. These works have taught me much over the years, some of which I have acknowledged in the footnotes. Ill On a more personal note, my first debt is to Professor R. William Liddle. That I ended up working on a study of Malaysia’s New Economic Policy at all is due to some intriguing lectures on the works of Albert Hirschman by him. His encouragement gave me the assurance to take on an elusive topic as the New Economic Policy and the state, and his own work is the inspiration for much that appears here. It is to him that I owe my greatest intellectual debt. While I was shaping ideas at Ohio State, I benefited particularly from the comments and criticisms of Professors Bradley Richardson and David Lampton. A special thank to Professor Giacomo Sani who so readily agreed to serve on the oral committee despite a short notice. Also many colleagues have been kind enough to comment on and proof-read some of the chapters of this dissertation. For such help I am grateful to Hsio-fen Chu, Yujen Chou, Charng-yeong Ku, and Jaushieh Wu. To be sure, my debts extend much further.' My ability to continue and complete graduate study and this dissertation depended on the generosity of the Department of Political Science at the Ohio State University for modest financial support that I required. When I was in Malaysia in the Summer of 1986, many individuals and organizations aided in my research. I must single out Miss Ea Sew Yock who helped and enriched ray research for primary documents, and who so patiently send me iv new materials when I requested them back in Columbus. It is to her that I must say a special thank you. At the Selangor and Kuala Lumpur Chinese Chamber of Commerce, the entire staff proved friendly and helpful. Also, I would like to thank the staff at the Chinese Resource Center, the Education Research Center at the Malayan Teachers' Association, the Material Resource Unit of the Malaysian Chinese Association, and the Malaysian Chinese Associated Chamber of Commerce. I am also grateful to those politicians, bureaucrats, and officers of groups who agreed to grant interviews. The libraries of the Ohio State University, Ohio University at Athens, University of Malaya, and the National University of Malaysia gave me facilities and assistance which contributed to the accomplishment of the research. Finally, I would like to thank Jiing-Wen, my wife, for her enormous patience and understanding. Our time spent together with Elaine, our daughter, on reading, talking, and listening, or simply together, has kept the solitary and secluded life of a dissertation writer from further estrangement. Indeed, she has contributed to the completion of this dissertation in many profound ways. VITA 1954 ....................Born - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 1978 ••••• •••••• B#A* Diploma of Education National University of Malaysia 1981-1983 .............. Teaching Assistant Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan 1983 ••••• •••••• M*A« Western Michigan University 1983-1988................ Teaching Associate Department of Political Science, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio PUBLICATIONS "Modern Chinese Poetry in Malaysia," Archipel, 19, 1980; 199-206. "The 1986 Malaysia General Election: An Analysis of the Campaign and Results," Asian Profile (forthcoming). FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: Political Development, Southeast Asia Minor Field: Public Policy, Organization Theory Studies in Political Development. Professor R. William Liddle Studies in Politics of Industrialized Society. Professors Bradley B. Richardson and Giacomo Sani Studies in Public Policy. Professor Randall Ripley VI TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS..................................... i ü VITA .................................................. vi LIST OF T A B L E S ...................................... x LIST OF FIGURES....................................... xii LIST OF A C R O N Y M S .................................... xiii INTRODUCTION ........................................ 1 A. Stating the P r o b l e m ....................... 1 B. Elaborating the Problem ................... 3 C. The Intellectual Terrain: the State and Policy Process....... ........................ 10 D. Malaysian Studies: Politics, the State, and the N E P ...................................... 19 E. The Argument of this S t u d y .................... 34 F. Organization of the Dissertation.............. 42 CHAPTER I. THE STATE IN PRE-1970 PENINSULAR MALAYSIA: THE COLONIAL ADMINISTRATIVE STATE AND POST-COLONIAL QUASI-CONSOCIATIONAL STATE .................... 44 A. The Colonial Administrative State .......... 47 1. The British Colonial Political Legacy: Early Administrative Period................ 48 2. The Colonial Social Legacy: Pluralization of the Malayan S o c i e t y .................... 51 3. The Malayan Union Proposal and the Federation of Malaya Agreement of 1948: The Administrative State and the Plural Society in Flux .......................... 55 4. Patterns of the Colonial Administrative S t a t e ...................................... 61 B. The Post-colonial Quasi-consociational State: 1955-1969 ............................ 65 1. Electoral Politics: The Alliance in Action ..... .................... 71 2. The Coalition of Ethnic Elites in Negotiations ............................ 74 3. Patterns of the Post-colonial Quasi-consociational State .............. 79 V I 1 c. Conclusion 88 II. THE ECONOMY OF PRE-1970 PENINSULAR MALAYSIA: COLONIAL ECONOMY AND DEVELOPMENT PLANNING . 89 A. Basic Characteristics of the Colonial Economy .................................. 91 B. Economie Policies of the Colonial Administrative State: Private Enterprises, the State, and Labor Policy .............. 96 C. Basic Characteristics of the Post-independence Malaysian Economy: Continuity and Change . 103 D. Economic Policies of the Quasi-consociational State: Planning, Development, and Ethnicity 108 E. Conclusion ................................ 125 III. THE NEW ECONOMIC