ABSTRACT

This chapter describes the relationship between industrial development in Peninsular Malaysia after 1970 and the massive exodus of young single women from the countryside to the urban industrial centers. It discusses the impact and implications of the rural-to-urban migration on the migrants in particular and Malaysian society in general. The chapter aims to explore the causes of rural-to-urban migration of Malay women to urban industrial centers of Peninsular Malaysia, to trace the adaptation of migrants to work and life in the urban environment and to examine the changes in their outlook and values. The New Economic Policy was introduced after the Malaysian race riots of 1969 and was aimed at correcting the grievances behind the riots. Analysis of the relationship between rapid industrial development after 1970 and the rural-to-urban migration of Malay female workers reveals that changes in the migration pattern by sex result from selectivity in the pull factors of urban industrial development.