Malaysian Chinese - Trade and Industry

Trade and Industry

Chinese as a group have usually averaged considerably higher incomes than the surrounding ethnic groups in the countries in which they lived. Chinese Malaysians also continue to owned 85 percent of Malaysian retail outlets and played a major role in the development of the tin, petroleum, and rubber industry. Chinese-owned mines produced nearly two-thirds of the tin in Malaysia. Many used their savings to open small businesses, where some grew into large enterprises. Typically, many of their enterprises have been family-controlled and family-run. Malaysian Chinese entrepreneurs operate as a more urban business community, dominating trade and commerce, primarily tin mining and agriculture. They are also dominant in both business and commerce sectors in Malaysia where 70 percent of publicly listed companies were under Chinese ownership. Insurmountable economic mobilization by the Chinese in Malaysia are estimated to control 50% of the construction sector, 82% of wholesale trade, 58% of retail trade, 40% of the manufacturing sector, and 70% of the small scale enterprises. In 2002, Chinese Malaysian share of the overall Malaysian economy stood at 40% since the implementation of the Malaysian New Economic Policy and the Chinese share in Malaysian non-agricultural sector fell from 51.3% to 45.9% from 1970 to 1980. Despite efforts to reduce the share of Chinese entrepreneurial dominance, the overall Chinese share of the Malaysian economy increased to 60% in 2008. In 1964, Sino-Malaysians accounted for 91.7% of the private corporate holdings in Malaysia and ownership of the Malaysian gravel pump and small scale tin mines were completely placed in the hands of ethnic Chinese entrepreneurs. By 1970, glaring economic disparity between the Malays and Chinese was wide as Malaysian Chinese entrepreneurs were estimated to control 26% of the assets in the corporate sector, 26.2% of the manufacturing and 92.2% of the non-corporate sector. Chinese Malaysian businessmen are estimated to occupy 34.9% of Malaysia's LLC companies, the highest percentage of ownership among the 3 major ethnic groups in Malaysia. In order to seek extra funding and seed money for potential business start-ups, many Malaysian Chinese entrepreneurs have turned to the Malaysian Stock Exchange for business expansion and potential IPOs. Chinese Malaysians are estimated to control 62% percent of the stock market. In 1995, the seven biggest investors in the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange were all ethnic Chinese, with 90 percent of the smaller and younger companies on the second exchange of the KLSE are also Chinese controlled. Home ownership and the utilization of property as an investment is also prevalent in the Malaysian Chinese community. Real estate investing is a common business and a source of wealth for Malaysian Chinese real estate entrepreneurs as it doesn't only provide a steady source of monthly from rental proceeds or a hedge against inflation, but also raises the standard of living for Malaysians who aren't in the right economic position to purchase a home for themselves. In 2005, Malaysian Chinese owned 69.4% of the business complexes, 71.9% of all commercial and industrial real estate, as well as 69.3% of all the hotels in Malaysia reflecting Chinese control over the various business and commercial establishments around the nation.

However, the underprivileged section of the Malaysian Chinese continue to be excluded from affirmative-action programmes despite their genuine need for support in obtaining employment, government subsidized education, and housing. This perception of a zero-sum game amongst the races has unfortunately fueled protests by frustrated sections of the hitherto quiescent community - who consequentially faced a heavy-handed response from the authorities. Recently, the Malaysian government has at least pledged to change this by increasing assistance to needy Malaysians regardless of race, creed, or national origin.