NeoLiberalism and the Challenges of Managing Labour Migration in Urban Malaysia

Labour migration into Malaysia has increased rapidly in recent decades and this has affected Malaysia's government policy in managing migrants’ movement. Interestingly, Malaysia has attracted a high degree of unskilled labour, accompanied by unabated rise of undocumented migrant workers. Mitigating undocumented migration is the main aim of Malaysia's labour migration policy and therefore the focus of Malaysian government. This has impacted on how enforcement agencies work out strategies. These agencies are the forefront of Malaysia's labour migration policy but they faced a number of challenges, such as documentation, finance and manpower capability, and political intervention, which impede their ability to optimize their capabilities in enforcing the Malaysian government labour migration policy. Resolving these challenges and moving towards a long‐term labour migration policy will benefit the Malaysian state, its citizens and the labour migrants.     

Planners’ Perspectives on Governing and Producing Sustainable Cities in Malaysia

Since the mid-1990s, sustainable principles have been embedded in Malaysia’s development plans. The assumption has been that policies, programs, and plans that promote good communities—requiring a mix of housing types, uses, and densities—will produce sustainability. This study examines planning policies and interviews data with local planners to understand the challenges in interpreting and implementing a sustainability agenda in practice. The findings of the study suggest that although planners use various strategies and mechanisms to achieve sustainable cities, problems and barriers limit efforts to produce sustainable cities. Planners have reached a consensus on the need to improve current practice in producing sustainable cities and find effective solutions to deliver good governance practices. The weak commitment of different agencies and leadership, and limited staff resources and unnecessary political intervention, mean that planners in Malaysia face increasing challenges when implementing sustainable cities.