The Federation of Malaya is facing the new year with hope and confidence. It is the declared policy of the Alliance Government to work for the prosperity and general well-being of the country and its people living both in the urban and the rural areas.
With the progressive improvement of the Emergency1 situation, however, the Alliance Government decided to give top priority to the task of improving the lot of the rural inhabitants. Plans for carrying out this important campaign of rural development are now being worked out.
As pointed by His Highness the Timbalan Yang di-Pertuan Agung in his address to Parliament2 the aim of the newly-created Ministry of Rural Development will be to provide a sound economic foundation for peasant agriculture, to ensure that the man on the land receives the full reward for his work and enjoys the amenities of Malayan life in the same measure as his brother in the town.
This will be done by establishing through the agency of the Federal and State Land Development Authorities as many areas as possible where economic smallholdings and estates, with processing and marketing facilities, may be developed intensively around modern villages offering the services and amenities appropriate for a settled, well-organised and prosperous community.
It will be appreciated that this task, besides being complex, is an urgent one and calls for special methods of planning and execution. In order that the aim may be achieved in the shortest possible time, it is the intention of the Government to marshall all available resources, and to deploy them with such determination and energy as were used to free the country from the menace of Communist terrorism.
I take great pleasure in wishing all Malayans a Happy and Prosperous New Year.
- Emergency situation in Malaya declared due to communist terrorism which covered the period 1948-1960
- Parliament Session—First Session of the First Dewan Rakyat on 25th November, 1959
