FINAL TEST PAD390

Social change refers to any significant alteration over time in behavior patterns and cultural
values and norms. For example, it may result from motivation by a charismatic leader such as Mahatma
Gandhi. Among the change variables given by sociologist and anthropologist are physical variable,
biological variable, ideological variable, and technological variable.

In term of physical variable, it refers to the natural environment surrounding us. This includes
the physical geography, weather, natural disaster and so forth. In 1989, Horton and Hunt states that
changes to the physical environment at an enormous scale seldom occur but when it does, it could
dramatically change the fate of human society. Our natural resources are becoming scarce, and this is
largely due to human activities. Mismanagement of natural resources and the environment often led to
catastrophe. Natural occurrences such as floods, earthquakes, change in river flow as well as drought
necessitate humans to change their way of living to adapt to the changes in nature. The result is that
those societies, which live close to, a body of water will have a different lifestyle from those staying in
the desert or the mountain. One of the physical characteristics that affect human lives is weather.
Weather tends on several factors such as temperature, humidity, and wind. For societies who depended
heavily on natural rainwater, the lack of rain can lead to serious consequences.

Next, in term of biological variable. The biological variable can be divided into two which are
ecological and demography. First, ecology refers to the relationship between man and other living things
such as plants, animals, and microorganisms. It can affect the way a society changes. However, humans
need food and most of these needs are derived from animals and plants. This is because certain bacteria
are important for medicinal purposes. Thus, the availability of these food and medicinal properties are
important for the survival of humans. And for this reason of survival, humans to ensure that ecological
balance should be always maintain. Ecological imbalances lead to devastating results. For example, the
plague, which swept across Europe in 1399. Rats carry the plague virus, and the result of his plague is
thousands of deaths among the population as there was no cure for this disease. Second, demography.
It’s the science of human population and involves the study of the characteristics of human populations,
such as size, growth, density, distribution, and vital statistics. Demography represents a fundamental
approach to the understanding of human society. Its main tasks are to determine the number of people
in each area, factors that influence the change in the number of population and to estimate the trend of
future development in population. This is important as the rising number of world population means
increased demand on the resources, places to live and so forth. An explosion of population in
undeveloped countries may result in increased social problems. Some countries resort to family
planning in its bid to decrease its population size.

In technological variable term, technology has changed and transformed the society in various
ways, especially from the emergence of tools. Modern society has made great discoveries and
inventions in medicine, science, transportation, and communication. Impact of these technologies on
modern society has been both beneficial but yet sometimes, negative. Technology on its own is a form
of social change, and it has permanently changed the way humans think and relate to one another.

Finally, ideological variable. It is a set of beliefs, ideas, and principles in a social system. It's an
essential part of a community as it reflects the acceptance or community resistance to social change or
other factors that may lead to social change. According to Auguste Comte "...the importance of social
change is the mind". Ideology is related to the thinking or rather how a society thinks. The society's
thinking pattern is a result of nurture that has been practiced by one generation to the next. Thus,
ideology is more difficult to change, but not impossible. Change in ideology and acceptances of new
ideas may occur in many instances such as religion, philosophies, custom, culture, and ethnic
background. History recorded many social changes brought about by changes in ideologies.

To sum up, all these factors, at present, affecting the ways of how social changes are taking
place. Social change is the change in society. Due to advancement of technology and cultural value the
society undergoes some changes in its traditions and culture. Such a change occurs over a broad period
of time and not immediately. It has some consequences and some side effects. It takes time for the
people to forget the old norms and adopt the new changes. Some changes are opposed by people, and
some are adopted immediately.
QUESTION 5

Majority of the population in these countries' dwells in rural areas, which are usually associated
with underdevelopment. One of the major social problems of the rural sector is poverty. Chamhuri
states that although poverty is a universal problem, its higher once and incidence in the rural sector
makes it predominantly rural phenomenon. In 1990, Maimunah defines it as a process to improve the
standard of living in the rural areas through the improvement of all aspects of human development. This
should include basic needs, food, clothing, shelter, housing, health, and other psycho-social needs such
as education, occupation, spiritual and safety. However, the efforts of Integrated Rural Development in
Malaysia Main programs and projects carried out by the Ministry of Rural Development (MRD) and its
activities are land development, rural industry, community development, poverty eradication, rural
urbanization, and infrastructure development.

There are a few contributions of the Integrated Rural Development in Malaysia in focusing on
the development of specific potential areas. The first one is infrastructure development. The Second
Malaysia Plan also incorporated a National Rural Development Plan aimed at reorganizing and
mobilizing institutions and efforts towards modernizing and developing the rural sector. The Ministry of
Rural Development planned and coordinated the activities of all agencies related to rural development.
At the district or local level, the District Rural Development Committees implemented, monitored, and
reviewed as the Rural development projects in what was known as the Rural Economic Development
(RED Book) Plan located at District Operation Rooms, which recorded the progress and attainment of
rural development projects as district level (Chamhuri, 1996). The RED projects focused on building basic
infrastructures and institutions. The infrastructural approach was intended to provide linkages to the
rural economy, provide rural employment and raise productivity and incomes of rural peasants (Stephen
Chee, 1975). The social and economic infrastructures provided were rural roads, drainage and irrigation
facilities, basic amenities like rural electricity, water, school, health, community, and religious centers,
etc. The rural institutions were established to facilitate production and marketing functions and also, the
credit needs of the rural peasants. These infrastructures and institutions were expected to generate
rural employment besides raising productivity, incomes socio-economic status of the rural population. 7
Despite the infrastructural programmes, the incidence of poverty remained at a serious level in the
1960s. To break through the vicious cycle of poverty, a more effective measure was needed in the form
of a structurally oriented program that could absorb the underemployed rural population in the
overcrowded rural agricultural sector. During this period, there was abundant agricultural land which
could be developed into land development schemes. Thus, large, and extensive land development
schemes under the Federal Land Development Authority (FELDA) became a catalyst for rapid rural
development. Vast areas of undeveloped land were brought into cultivation of rubber and palm oil
through new land development and settlement schemes. Largely for economic and political reasons, the
main thrust shifted production orientation of traditional smallholder from policy subsistence activities to
the production of export crops. New land development programmes were extended to include the
cultivation of oil palm through a policy of crop diversification and double cropping of rice was expanded
under the drive for self-sufficiency in rice production. Agricultural rehabilitation and consolidation were
also emphasized under in situ development programmes. Emphasis was also made to upgrade
agricultural research and extension and to correct the shortcomings facing land tenure, credit
processing and marketing. These aimed at reducing production costs so as to ensure fair returns to
producers. The policy objective of increased productivity and output, nonetheless, had not been
eschewed in view of continuing emphasis on agricultural modernization and increased pace of land
alienation and development for agriculture. Rural industrialization was another strategy started under
SMP to increase employment, productivity, and incomes of the rural population. Rural Industrial
Development Authority (RIDA) was launched to improve the well-being of rural communities by setting
up rural or cottage industries. Later RIDA was expanded into MARA or The Council of Trust for
Indigenous People, whose role has included providing training and educational facilities to Malays to
further their education and to than involvement in the urban industrial sector.

Next, rural industrialization. It began to receive major attention and encouragement in Malaysia
in the early 1970s. This was seen to comprise four integral components; namely, i. primary processing of
agricultural raw materials for export, for example, rubber milling, palm oil milling and cocoa bean
production; ii. traditional activities which may loosely be described as handicrafts with such products as
batik, basketry, pottery, silverware, and woodcarvings, produced by small, home-based enterprise; iii.
small-scale production of consumer goods for local markets, with products such as bread and cakes, fish
crackers, clothing, furniture, brick, and cement blocks; and iv. automotive and electrical repairs, often
involving only a working proprietor using informal premises. With a view of promoting and enhancing
rural industrialization, substantial public sector resources have been earmarked to provide, among
others, loans and grants, consultancy and extension services, entrepreneurial development, training,
infrastructure facilities and tax benefits (Sixth Malaysia Plan 1991-95). Six main areas of rural non-farm
and industrial opportunities have been identified to have strong inter-sectoral linkages namely, low, and
medium-technology transfer, subcontracting, resource-based industries, local market-oriented activities,
tourism-related activities, and traditional manufacturing. Among the programmes which have been
promulgated for the Seventh Malaysia Plan included provision of credit trough government agencies
including the Agricultural Bank of Malaysia (BPM), development of industrial land and premises;
provision of training and entrepreneurial development by government agencies; upgrading of
technology and promotion of marketing; product and process development; preparation of feasibility
studies and development of ancillary industries. During the Seventh Malaysia Plan, appropriate
institutional arrangements and incentives will be provided to facilitate the implementation of a more
broad-based programme with greater emphasis on higher employment opportunities and increased
productivity. The development of the rural non-farm industry is seen to be an essential component of
the strategy necessary to achieve a more balanced growth in the rural areas. Accordingly, the scope of
rural industrialization programmes will be extended beyond cottage and handicraft industries and will
not be confined to only villages.

Another contribution is resource and new land development. Malaysia was fortunate that after
independence, large areas of virgin forest under the control of the state were available for
development. This enabled new land development to be carried out in large scales. The initial aim was
to increase agriculture productivity through the opening up of new land for agriculture and associated
settlement development which would absorb the rural poor from less developed states and provide
them with a better standard of living. Many 17 government agencies were involved including the
Federal Land Development Authority (FELDA), the Regional Development Authorities (RDAs), the State
Economic Development Corporations (SEDCs). FELDA alone has successfully developed about 850,000
hectares of land for agriculture, 317 settlements and settled about 112,600 families. Most of the
development was carried out between 1960 and 1987, covering all states except Sarawak. FELDA played
a comprehensive role in the development of the schemes from the management of the plantation and
settlements to the extension of services, maintaining basic infrastructure, support services in processing,
refining, marketing, transportation, research, and manufacturing. Another important agency was
Regional Development Authorities established by Acts of Parliament with the role to transform virgin
land into agriculturally productive areas; develop resource-based industries and urban services and
coordinate the activities of other government agencies involved in the development of land in their
respective regions.

To sum up, the discussion above shows that in order to realize the agenda of sustainable
development rural planning and development, more effort and resources have to be focused on the
planning at local levels and enhancing the local capacity for implementing of sustainable agenda.
Planning and development have to enhance local participation, development of entrepreneurship, and
social capital towards more a self-reliance society.
QUESTION 4

The 11th Malaysia Plan which known as 11MP includes strategies to improve the welfare of B40
income households in the bottom 40% of households. The focus was given to address pockets of poverty
and socio-economic imbalances, especially among the bottom 40 per cent household income group (B40
household). The programmes implemented have increased household income, narrowed income
disparity, and uplifted the wellbeing of B40 households.

There are a few efforts made by government in order to addressing increasing cost of living. the
first effort is by increasing access to healthcare services. The Government will encourage participation of
private healthcare service providers and NGOs in the provision of specific healthcare facilities such as
dialysis, rehabilitation, and medical testing lab centers in urban areas. The facilities will complement the
existing healthcare services provided by the Government. In rural areas, more community clinics will be
built to increase access to basic healthcare services. Frequency of visits by medical specialists in non-
specialist district hospitals, mobile clinics and flying doctors service will also be increased while local
health volunteer programmes will be strengthened. Other health programmes such as food baskets,
community feeding, and immunization programmes will be continued. In addition, awareness, and
education programmes on family health such as nutrition, family planning and healthy lifestyle will be
intensified.

The second effort is by enhancing financial and debt management programmes. The level of
financial literacy and capability will be enhanced throughout the life stages to foster prudent financial
management from early age as well as to prevent high indebtedness among B40 households. In this
respect, financial education and debt advisory services will be intensified to assist households to
improve their financial management and responsible practices, including proper use of consumer credits
and debt restructuring. 2.64 In addition, financing behavior and practices among borrowers and lenders
will be further strengthened. In this regard, integrated and enhanced legislation will be put in place to
manage consumer credit activities for both banks and non-bank lenders. Meanwhile, the collection,
management and sharing of data relating to household indebtedness across national authorities and
government agencies will be enhanced to promote effective analysis and development.

Another effort is increasing the provision of affordable housing. The Government will continue
to ensure that affordable homes are available to B40 households. Special interest rate loans, with a 10-
year moratorium on sale of the property, will be provided to B40 households to enable them to own
houses. Affordable housing schemes by Perbadanan PR1MA Malaysia and Syarikat Perumahan Negara
Berhad will be continued. Housing rental assistance will also be made available to eligible households. In
addition, state governments will be encouraged to set an adequate quota for affordable housing. 2.57
Policies regarding housing for the B40 households will also emphasize quality and maintenance. Existing
low‐cost flats and houses will be refurbished as part of the holistic campaign to improve the living
conditions of the community. For poor households in rural areas, especially Orang Asli in Peninsular
Malaysia and Bumiputera in Sabah and Bumiputera in Sarawak, the Government will continue to provide
housing with basic amenities through the construction of integrated settlements under PBR. The
Program Perumahan Rakyat (PPR) will be continued for poor households in urban areas.

Lastly, enhancing accessibility to higher education and skills training. Accessibility to quality
education and skills training among students from B40 households will be enhanced. Institutions of
higher learning and skills training institutes will be encouraged to provide more places for these
students through preferential entry qualification criteria and enrolment quota. This will be
complemented with the provision of financial aid. Special consideration will be given to potential
students from Orang Asli in Peninsular Malaysia and those living in the rural and remote areas in Sabah
and Sarawak by increasing their intake into high performing schools and doubling the intake of
moderate scorers among Orang Asli to Pusat Intelek Pelajar Orang Asli. Educational assistance
programmes such as KWAPM, RMT and Bantuan Pakaian Seragam Badan Beruniform will be expanded
to help more students from B40 households.

To conclude, the 11th Plan efforts on raising B40 households will give special attention towards
further improving the people economy while ensuring the capital economy continues to flourish. The
people economy will be covering priorities and interests of the rakyat such as cost of living, household
income, education and employment opportunities, entrepreneurship as well as social safety net. In this
regard, the priority is to increase the income and wealth of B40 households, manage the increase in
living expenses and household debt, ensure the provision of efficient programs. Another focus is to
improve the SSN program to ensure the wellbeing of B40 households, especially Orang Asli on the
Malaysian Peninsula, Bumiputera in Sabah, and Bumiputera in Sarawak.