ABSTRACT
The Chinese and Indians were twice as well off as the Malays and the 1970 Census Report revealed that the mean monthly income of Malay households was 179 Malaysian dollars compared with 387 for the Chinese and 310 for the Indians. The encouraging factor is that Malaysia's economic success and rising standard of living is building up a national spirit, encouraged by the national philosophy of Rukunegara launched to restore racial harmony and unity after the 1969 riots. In comparison with Singapore, Malaysia has the great advantage of rich natural resources and exports accounted for more than half the Gross National Product in 1980. Both Malaysia and Singapore felt the effects of the recession slightly later than the industrialized world. More damaging is the distortion of University admissions as part of the attempt to redress the inferior academic levels of the Malays.
