Migration policy and challenges of rural and urban population

Since 1971, under the New Economic Policy (NEP) of eradicating poverty and restructuring society, the Malaysian government has tried to promote a balance in economic activities, which contributed to marked economic differences between geographical locations. Development planning has changed from "building upon the best" (under British colonial times) to "accelerating maximum growth" (1950s and 1960s) and finally to "growth with equal distribution" (1971 until now). The discussion in this article will attempt to establish the general pattern of demographic structural change in Peninsular Malaysia and its constituent regions and to examine the extent to which government policy (restructuring population and decreasing poverty) has influenced the pattern of regional inequalities in Peninsular Malaysia. The first part of this paper will discuss the demographic structural change 3nd distribution in Peninsular Malaysia, including population growth and concentration, age structure and dependency and. how migration has responded to government policy to redistribute the population. The second part of this paper will discuss the status and change in poverty and society that occurred in the states and regions in Peninsular Malaysia since 1970. Generally, regarding demographic structural change, the research findings show that industrial dispersal and rural-to-urban and rural-to-rural migrations strategies have contributed to increased income and decreasing poverty but have also increased the urbanisation rate in the less developed states. However, poverty remains a problem in the less developed states. Althougll rural-to-urban migration has contributed to decreasing poverty and income distribution, it has also had side effects for the urban and rural population. In the urban areas, these include urban poverty, housing problems and a high influx of foreign workers, while in the rural areas; they include an increased dependency ratio, greater gender inequality, increased poverty and abandoned house