First and foremost, the most obvious change in Malaya as a result of the British rule was thetransformation of predominant traditional subsistence farming before the British rule to one that was now dominantly export-oriented. British helped Malaya realise that its possession of geographical features such as plains and deltas, could help result in great yields of agriculture thatcould go beyond subsistence farming and become an aspect of commercial farming. It madeMalaya realise its abundant untapped natural resources that would boost the country’s economy toa large extent.The transformation, mentioned in the previous paragraph, also led to the change whereby Malaya was now rapidly exposed to the forces of international trade. Previously, before the Britishrule, the economy was independent and was not affected greatly by external factors. This changemeant that Malaya could no longer be self-reliant but depended on international trade to survive.For example, rice, which was previously grown for subsistence or small-scale trade, became a cashcrop which was used to gain capital through trade. The capital gained was used to further developMalaya so it would not lag behind its development which would affect its quality of resources toproduce commercial agriculture for trade. This change brought about by the British, helped changemodernize Malaya to enhance its production, consumption and distribution of agricultural goods, which was a dominant contributor to its economy.
Change
in Malaya from an
Economical
Leave a Comment