The achievement of rural and regional development approach in Kedah: a case of Keda

The first Rural Development Transformation with the aim of developing physical infrastructure and providing extensive basic amenities to rural people was introduced by Tun Abdul Razak in 1957. After that, a series of programs and approaches were implemented by the Malaysian government to improve the economic status of rural people and, at the same time, to reduce poverty. The launching of Government Transformation Programme (GTP), the New Economic Model (NEM) and 11th Malaysia Plan (11th MP) were among the evidences of the determination of Malaysia in combating the poverty incidences and, at the same time, in developing the country. The purpose of this thesis was to examine the development of rural area in Malaysia at the micro-level, focusing on the development of economic, social, infrastructure, education, and young people. The State of Kedah was selected for this study since reports by Department of Statistic Malaysia (2013 and 2016) and Economic Planning Unit recorded this state as having one of the highest rates of incidence of poverty as well as hard-core poor in the rural area of Peninsular Malaysia. The research findings were derived from quantitative and qualitative methods based on the data collection using questionnaires involving 302 households and face to face interviews with 13 headmen, four (4) Development Officer and two (2) Development Manager. The findings indicated that all of the elements under the scope of the study recorded the improvement, even though not hundred percent, where the highest was infrastructure development, followed by social and young people development, education development and economic development. The findings will allow the government agencies involved in rural community development in Malaysia, especially in Kedah, to improvise their policies and program to further enhance the outcomes of the programs especially for rural economic development. It will also be able to create awareness among rural people on the importance of their fully understanding and participating in every program organized by government agencies for their own benefit and development