SOCIO-ECONOMICS Malaysia is one of the most racially, ethnically and religiously diverse nations in the world today, with

all of the world's major religions, as well as major Asian ethnic groups, represented. In this relatively tiny area, peace thrives as the various groups co-exist in harmony and tolerance; complementing one another to enrich the shared character, cultural mosaic and vision of the nation. Socioeconomics or social economics is an umbrella term with different usages. Malaysia has a unique kind of a socio-economics structure. With it`s multi racial society, its socio-economics varies from the other countries. The 3 major races in Malaysia are Malays, Chinese and Indians. The largest ethnic group in Malaysia, accounting for more than half of the total population today, is the Malays. Islam is the religion of almost all Malays, and is also the official religion of the state. The Malays, along with the indigenous people, form a group called bumiputra, a Bahasa Malaysia term which literally means "sons of the soil", which accords them special privileges as enshrined in the Constitution. The Malays dominate Malaysia's government jobs and armed force like being a soldier or a air forces. The Malays used to stay in the villages, but now, they have moved out to the town. As said just now, they dominate the government jobs, where, those days, they used to be farmers when the british colonized Malaysia years ago. There are some Malays who still involve themselves in agriculture as agriculture is a major source of economy to Malaysia. Malaysia's production of rice, the chief staple, meets nearly all of its domestic demand. Malaysian farmers also grow many varieties of tropical fruit, including pineapples, mangoes, and bananas. Two local favorites are the spiky, strong-smelling durian and the juicy, reddish-purple mangosteen. Small farms also produce coconuts, vegetables, and cacao (seeds used in making chocolate). Some farmers raise cattle or hogs. Sarawak is one of the world's largest producers of black pepper. Rubber, the main cash crop, is grown primarily on small farms and accounts for one-fourth of the world's production of this commodity. Private estates provide about one-half of palm-oil production and the Federal Land Development Authority, an organization of smallholders, accounts for one-third. Roundwood, exported to Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, and China, is a major source of foreign exchange. Extensive reforestation was initiated in 1981. Several organizations have been formed now to help poor malay farmers, fishermen, and young businessmen. RIDA is one of the famous government organization. It was formed when Malaysia got its independence from british. The Malays have contributed a lot towards the nations development by involving themselves in the government. Another large ethnic groups came to Malaysia during colonial times, in the 1800's and early 1900's. they were Chinese who migrated from southeastern China and came to work in tin mining or retail trade. Service industry which produce services rather than goods, have become increasingly important to Malaysia's economy. They now employ about half the labor force. The country's main service industries include government, transportation, and retail sales. Most retail stores in Malaysia are small general stores run by Chinese. Larger retail outlets, including supermarkets and department stores, operate chiefly in urban

centers. Urban areas also have the bulk of the country's other service industries, such as finance and real estate. Malaysia has a rapidly growing tourist industry that draws millions of visitors a year.

As the tourist industry is increasing rapidly every year, the Chinese have ventured into hotel industries as well. Hotels nowadays are blooming so fast like the mushrooms after the rain. Turn left, you see hotels, and turn right you see hotels too. The hotel industry in Malaysia is fast growing as we may not be surprised if Malaysia becomes THE PLACE for vacations in years to come. the government is making a lot of effort to draw visitors and tourists to the country, and due to the presence of mushrooming hotels, the Chinese are contributing to Malaysia`s economic development. Transport, service, whote colloar` Indians who hail from both india and Sri Lanka came to work on rubber plantations during colonial times, in the 1800's and early 1900's. Most of the Indians and Sri Lankans are Hindus. Malaysia's impressive economic performance has been based on rich natural resources and a diversified economy. In the 1970's, Malaysia was primarily an exporter of raw commodities, such as timber, rubber, tin, and palm oil. It still produces those basic goods, but they play a much smaller economic role. But the Indians have taken over the rubber and palm oil industry. The country now derives much of its wealth from manufacturing and a successful exporter of electronic products. Malaysia has a predominantly market economy that has been transformed from one heavily dependent on the production and export of raw materials to one that is much more diversified. Indians have also gone to manufacturing and development industries. Finally, Indians have also turned to white collared jobs as it is more preferred in the community nowadays.