Malay reservation : a Malay dilemma / Haliza Aini Othman

The basic aim of the Malay Reservation
Enactment was the perpetuation of the ownership
of lands under Malay settlement and cultivation
in the hands of the Malays and hence the preservation
of the social, economic and physical
intergrity of the Malay peasantry.
However the role of the Malay Reservations
in the overall protection of Malay interest in
rural and urban land ownership is questionable.
The prohibition of dealings in Malay
Reservation by non-Malays effectively created a
category of agricultural land different from
non-Reservation holdings in terms of the commercial
value of the holdings. The insulation of
Malay Reservation from non-Malay influence and
dealings debarred the Malay owners from
mortgaging their land to non-Malay moneylenders.