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A brief History on Malaysia Local Government.
Malaysia has inherited the British form of Local Government model during its colonial period.Penang and Malacca, under the direct British rule during the colonial period had an earlyexposure of such system and turn out to be the oldest local government in Malaysia. Penang andMalacca was an urban state under the direct rule of the colonial British administration. Due to itsurban characteristic, the Local Government establishment was ideal and works tremendouslywell in terms of managing the urban society. Only both of these states had rural councils.Started out for its function to provide basic utility service to an area, such as drainage andelectricity, it soon evolves from time to time to meet the needs of the people. The settlementsoutside the municipal boundaries were administered through rural boards, similar in operation tothe town boards, but having corporate status under the Municipal Ordinance, and responsibilityfor rural administration. While they were in some respects comparable to British rural districtcouncils, their members were appointed, predominantly government servants, and werefinancially integrated with the settlement Governments. The overall structure of local authoritieswas complex, the coverage incomplete, and the form varied. (Morris 1980: 12 – 13)As compared to the colonial period when local government in Malaysia was looked upon as anagency primarily associated with tasks such as garbage collection and street cleaning, it is nowviewed as a “catalyst” for development and, as the late Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak pointedout, “
a tier of government operation deploying its resources towards achieving national economic and social objectives.
”The system and history of Local Government had gone through very complex chronologicalchanges. Paul Tennant in his article “The Decline of Elective Local Government in Malaysia”viewed Malaysia local electoral development in five stages:
 
Below are some of the important events in the history of local government in Malaysia:
1801
 – The first elements of Local Government were established in Penang with the appointmentof a Committee of Assessors.
1857
– A more solid Local Government was established in Penang and Malacca. The LocalGovernment status of power was confirmed by Straits Settlement Municipal Ordinance133/1913.
1893
 – Ipoh City Council was established.
1897
- Seremban Municipal Council was established in 1897 as the Health Board providing only basic amenities to the Seremban dwellers. After the Second World War, Seremban grew rapidlyand the Health Board was replaced by the Seremban Town Board until 1965
1907
– Sanitary Board was form in Kelantan.By the year 1914, Kota Bharu, Tumpat and Pasir Mas was under the authority of the Sanitary Board.
1910
 – Johor Bharu Town Board was established.
1929
– Local Government Act was established by the British in Malaya.
1931
– Local Government in Jesselton, Sandakan, Tawau and Labuan was formed. It was thenknown as Sanitary Boards.
1938
– Municipal Enactment was formed and Kota Bahru Town Board was established.
1948
– Local Authorities Ordinance 1948 was formed under the British rule in Sarawak.
 
1950
 – Local Government Election Ordinance 1950 that entrusted the local councils to organizeelections for the office of the councilors—the people that
 governs
local area.
1952
 – The Local Government Ordinance 1952 was established, which empowered localresidents to establish local councils in their area wherever necessary.
1957
 – Independence for Malaya. All Local Government control was given to the StateGovernment to be administered.
1965
– The Malaysian Royal Commission was formed to investigate the Local Governmentsystem. It was decided that all Local Government Elections to be abolished on 2
nd
March 1965.
1971
– The Royal Commission on Remuneration and Conditions of Service in Local Authoritiesand Statutory Authorities, more conveniently described a the Harun Commission, was eventuallyappointed on June 10, 1971 and submitted its report on local authorities in December 1972
1972
– By July, all local government elections had been entirely abolished in Malaysia.
1973
– A temporary provision of the Local Government Act was implemented.
1976
– The Local Government Act was finalized. The Local Government Act, 1976 empowersstate governments to integrate old local authorities and, thus, create a new local authority largeenough to make it an effective unit from both the administrative and financial perspective.
What is a Local Government?
Although not much official definition had been derived to associate the meaning of LocalGovernment, many scholars and researchers in the field of political science had been trying toform a theory which hopes to sustain and define the system of local government.One author in particular gave a basic definition and an interesting way to look at it. WilliamHampton looks into the linguistic lexicons of the word ‘local government’ and from there heelaborates the nature of local government in his book ‘Local Government and Urban Politics’.The word ‘Local’ implies an area consecrated by long history and tradition, an environment thatconstruct our spatial-awareness. And it is from such awareness that build the socio-economic
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