ABSTRACT
The small scale of organization is the most striking social feature of the peasant economy. In all important economic activities either the individual or the husband-wife team is the producing unit. Modem political changes have aggravated the weakness of traditional groupings, taking away the regulatory functions of the kin-groups and weakening the authority of the chiefs. The lack of any clear system of legitimate authority in the contemporary village is one of the major factors inhibiting organization. The scattered evidence throughout Malaya indicates that this concentration of ownership is a general phenomenon. The most important way in which the character of Malay society affects the economy is in the field of values and attitudes. In industrial society there is a radical divorce between kinship roles, now almost entirely confined to the domestic functions of the nuclear family, and occupational roles.
