BIBLIOGRAPHIC INFORMATION 

Title Transportation And The Development Of Malaya Source Annals of the Association of American Geographers; Jun75, Vol. 65 Issue 2, p270-282, 13p Author 1 Leinbach, Thomas R. Author 2 NA Author 3 NA Publication/Conference NA Edition NA Document Type Article CPI Primary Subject Economics CPI Secondary Subject Transportation; ; ; Geographic Terms Malaysia;

Abstract Focuses on the initial period of Malayan development which reflected an effort to exert administrative control and extract tin ore through a complementary rail and road system. Provision of a base for the development of rubber estates in the period when the road network became recognized as the most flexible form of transportation; Association of the road network growth with social and economic objectives at the rural level.

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TRANSPORTATION AND THE DEVELOPMENTOF MALAYA*

THOMAS R. LEINBACH

ABSTRACT. The initial period of Malayan development refiected an effort toexert administrative control and extract tin ore through a complementary rail androad system. The network system provided a base for the development of rubberestates in the subsequent period when the road network became recognized as themost fiexible form of transportation. After the formation of a basic grid, road net-worth growth was associated with social and economic objectives at the rural level.The network expansion generally follows the "ideai-typical sequential" model andmay be viewed as a process rather than discrete historical stages. The primary trans-portation corridor was reinforced through interaction with the evolving larger citiesin the rubber and tin zones. The self-reinforcement of the network, along with theurban concentration process, and feedback expressed through recurrent or aban-doned demand, provide support for a more general model of transportation andcity-system development, KEY WORDS; Administrative control. Mining, Road net-work, Road-rail competition. Rubber, Rural development, Tin, Urban growth.

Aconcern has emerged in recent years for thespatial organization of development.^ One

of the most critical problems is the tendency forextreme economic polarity as investments flowtoward well established core region centers.The imbalance may be improved or preventedby creating new investment opportunities inperipheral areas or by altering the configurationof channels through which information, people,and commodities are propelled. Such strategiesof regional development must utilize the trans-portation system as a mechanism for reorgani-zation. Before we can hope to use the transpor-

Accepted for publication 4 August 1974.

Dr. Leinbach is Assistant Professor of Geography atthe University of Vermont in Burlington, VT 05401.

* I am grateful to the National Science Foundationfor financial support for field and archival researchin Peninsular Malaysia and London. Cartographic as-sistance was generously provided by the School ofHumanities, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang.Thanks also to Bruce Bradford, who provided emer-gency cartographic assistance under tight constraints.

1 For example E. A. J. Johnson, The Organizationof Space in Developing Countries (Cambridge: Har-vard University Press, 1970); John Friedmann, Rt-gional Development Policy: A Case Study of Venezuela(Cambridge: The M.l.T. Press, 1966); and TormodHermansen, Spatial Organization and Economic De-velopment: The Scope and Task of Spatial Planning(Mysore; Institute of Development Studies, 1971).

tation network as an efficient development tool,however, we must understand more completelythe nature of its growth and impact. This paperis concerned with the role of transportation inthe development and modernization of Malaya.-The objectives are to examine the impact,influences, and growth of the road and rail sys-tems. A cartographic analysis of the road net-work density and change along with adminis-trative annual reports and published materialswere used. The maps also allow insight into theprocess of transportation and urban develop-ment.

DEVELOPMENT BEFORE 1874

Although the Portuguese and the Dutch oc-cupied the Straits of Malacca earlier, Britainwas the sole European power in the MalayPeninsula at the end of the eighteenth century.By 1825, British control had spread fromPenang through the other Straits Settlements(Fig. 1). Perhaps as early as the eighteenthcentury Chinese mined tin for export in thePeninsula.'' The European, Chinese, and In-

- The use of the term Malaya was correct for themajor portion of the period under study and is re-tained here. The current official name of the area isPeninsular Malaysia.

'•^ P. P. Courtenay, A Geography of Trade and De-velopment in Malaya (London: G. Bell and Sons, Ltd,1972), pp.78-82.

ANNALS OF THE ASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN GEOGRAPHERS Vol. 65, No. 2, June 1975© 197S by the Association of American Geographers. Printed in U.S.A.

270

1975 TRANSPORT IN MALAYA 271

KEDAH )1909 ./'

PROVINCE^"WELLESLEY

180Q-'PENANG y

3 6 « . 'I PERAK\ 1874

50

Miles

• Straits Settlements 1826-1946

[ I Federated Malay States 1896-1946

r n Unfederated Malay states 1909-1946

FIG. 1. States of Malaya and Singapore. In thecurrent political structure, the Dindings is a district inPerak, and Penang Island and Province Wellesleyform the state of Penang. The date associated witheach area refers to the official commencement ofBritish administration.

dian mercantile communities in the Straits Set-tlements grew and expanded as a result of min-ing. Chinese merchants in Malacca and Penangadvanced capital to Malay chiefs, who in turnorganized the mining activity in their districts.Between 1815 and 1850 mining was well under-way in the states of Selangor, Negri Sembilan,Malacca, and Perak (Fig. I ) . The tin lodesclosest to the sea were mined first, but extrac-tion gradually diffused inland as the early mineswere depleted. Rivers such as the Linggi inNegri Sembilan, the Klang in Selangor, and theLarut in Perak were the major lines of commu-nication and trade.

Gradually a group of native political unitsevolved on the Peninsula.* Each sultanate wasgenerally defined as the watershed of a riveror group of rivers. Mobility within such a basinunit or "negri" relied heavily upon river trans-

port, and travel by sea was the major means ofcommunication among the states. A looselyjoined system of footpaths and tracks evolvedover time, but rivers served as the most reli-able and efficient mode of transportation. Tbecontrol point for each state was an administra-tive center located on the river estuary. Herethe ruler could extract a tax on imports andexports. The districts within the state were alsobound together by the riverine networks, and asimilar control point existed at the downstreamboundary of the district.^ There was no central-ized political control. This dispersed local con-trol and limited mobility in the Malay statesset the stage for British expansion from theStraits Settlements.

Although there were virtually no roads in theNative States in 1870, settlement and transporthad expanded in Penang, Province Wellesley,and Malacca. The daily administrative func-tions of the Resident Councillors, such as reve-nue collection and peace maintenance opera-tions, required a means of communication. Thefirst "roads" in these settlements were con-structed to insure political control and to pro-vide access to the main towns.

Tin was mined in Malacca during the early18OO's, but the meager return forced miners toturn elsewhere. A part of the Chinese popula-tion migrated to richer mining regions, andothers turned to commercial agriculture. Tapi-oca initially attracted attention, and the period

4 There is no single authority on the political organi-zation and economy of early Malaya, hut extremely

useful accounts (upon which the following sketch re-lies) are in J. M. Gullick. Indigenous Political Systemsof Western Malaya, London School of EconomicsMonographs on Social Anthropology, No. 17 (Lon-don: Athlone Press, 1958); James C. Jackson, Plantersand Speculators: Chinese and European AgriculturalEnterprise in Malaya, 1786-1921 (Kuala Lumpur:University of Malaya Press, 1968); and Emily Sadka,The Protected Malay States, 1874-1895 (Kuala Lum-pur: University of Malaya Press, 1968).

3 For interior and east coast states river transportwas integral to administration and development wellinto the twentieth century. "In the ahsence of roadsthe Pahang River is still a very important artery ofcommunication for Malays and the transport of tim-ber and produce in the districts of Lipis and Temerloh.Apart from the road between Kuantan and Pekancommunication on the east coast is mainly hy sea inthe form of steamers, launches, and native craft."Federated Malay States, Pahang Annual Report, 1932(Kuala Lumpur: G.P.O., 1933), p. 38. See also anote on early river communications in Pahang inR. G. Cant, An Historical Geography of Pahang,Monograph No. 4 (Singapore: Malaysian BranchRoyal Asiatic Society, 1972), pp. 29-31.

272 THOMAS R . LEINBACH June

from 1850 to 1870 was one of rapid expan-sion.^ The government improved accessibilityto planting and mining land and establishedoverland communication with the adjacentnative states. By 1867 Malacca had a good sys-tem of cart roads. A number of tapioca "fac-tories" and plantations and a dozen police out-posts had been built along the roads whichstretched as far as the frontiers of the NegriSembilanJ

In Penang too the residents opened up landfor agriculture and mining and encouraged tradewith towns. The planting of pepper began quiteearly with the hope of attracting trade andcontributing toward the cost of administration.Small scale agricultural schemes which pro-vided local food supplies were developedaround the perimeter of the towns along crudebridle paths. Chinese enterprise also gaineda firm foothold in Province Wellesley wheresugar estates had been cultivated as early as1820. Later European planters entered thesugar industry and prompted the British ad-ministration to develop a network of cart roadsthroughout the settlement.**

MINING AND ADMINISTRATION: 1 874-1911

The shift of tin mining to locations fartherinland and the arrival of British Residents in thestates of Perak, Selangor, and Negri Sembilanprovided a new dimension for development(Fig. I ) . Administrative centers established inthe more prosperous mining villages, such asKuala Lumpur, Seremban, Ipoh, and Taiping,were to dominate the pattern of urban growthfor a century.

The rivers continued to serve as natural high-ways upon which tin ore could be transportedfrom major fields in the Larut, Kinta, and Klangvalleys to the coast. As the mining activitymoved farther from the waterways, river trans-port was supplemented by bridle paths whichjoined the mines to riverine kampongs. The ad-ministrators quickly realized that a more effec-tive communications system was imperative toinsure continuing prosperity. The road networkhad developed mainly from the major coastaltowns in Province Wellesley, Penang, andMalacca. It expanded from these areas as set-

tlement, agriculture, and mining developed. Inother states roads were pushed out from coastaland inland tin centers to tap the surroundingregions. Eventually the rivers were supplantedby cart tracks which permitted land communi-cation between coastal and inland points.

The addition of the railway to this simpletransport system provided a more reliable formof haulage. Although his immediate goal wasthe establishment of connections between min-ing centers and ports, the Governor General ofthe Straits Settlements envisioned tbe railwayas the means by which agricultural and miningdistricts could be developed up and down thepeninsula." The growth of the road networkfrom railway terminals complemented railwayconstruction.

Two major themes are applicable to thegrowth of a road network. First, the road net-work provides an "openness" or "flexibility"which is critical to development. New oppor-tunities may be created and advertised, partic-ularly in remote rural areas, through transportdevelopment. Other forms of transportation areless flexible for the development of local eco-nomic and social potential. Second, the themeof prior dynamism is illustrated well in Ma-laya.^" A region which is growing rapidly hasa high demand for transport infrastructure.Such growth areas can become constraints inthe regional system if transport facilities are notexpanded. Thus the probability of success oftransportation investment is highly dependentupon the growth capacity of a region. The dis-covery of such dynamism, for example in theform of mineral or agricultural resources, sug-gests where additional roads should be located.Continued demand for transport services pro-vides a measure of the degree of utilization andforms the basis for upgrading and maintainingtbe network capacity.

Tbe most conspicuous feature of the roadnetwork in 1887 was the concentration in theStraits Settlements of Province Wellesley andMalacca where the British first took hold (Fig.2). Small density domes around Taiping and

^ Jackson, op. cit., footnote 4, pp. 52-56.''Map of Malacca Territory (Singapore: Surveyor

General, 1867).8 Jackson, op. cit., footnote 4, pp. 128-40.

"Colonial Office 273/120, No. 209, Memorandumfrom F. Weld, Governor, Straits Settlements toEarl of Derhy, Colonial Office, 28 May 1883.

1" George W. Wilson, "Toward A Theory of Trans-port and Development," in G. W. Wilson, et al., TheImpact of Highway Investment on Development(Washington, D.C: The Brookings Institution, 1966),pp. 211-12.

1975 TRANSPORT IN MALAYA 273

International Boundary

ROAD DENSITYMiles Per Hexagonal CellOf 210 Square Miles

ROAD

NETWORK

CHANGE

1898-1911

ROAD

NETWORK

CHANGE

1887-1898

FIG. 2. Road network density and change in Malaya: 1887-1911. The existing railway ateach date is superimposed upon the road density maps.

274 THOMAS R . LEINBACH June

Kuala Lumpur, for example, reveal the com-plementary influences of the administrative cen-ters, mining activity, and the growth of thenetwork. The theme of modal complemen-tarity is brought out by two rail segments whichconnected the mining centers of Taiping andKuala Lumpur with Port Weld and Klang.

After 1897 the road network spread out toconnect frontier economic potential with settledareas, and network densities increased insidesettled areas. New urban centers, such as inAlor Star and Tapah, which were merely col-lections of homesteads a decade earlier, hademerged as evidence of the impact of transportlines. The completion of a cart road from KualaLumpur to Kuala Lipis established communica-tion to the interior of Pahang for the first time.The road encouraged Chinese immigration fromthe western states and provided a psychologicallift as economic change was observable and thefeeling of remoteness was lifted.^^ Althoughroad development acts as a catalyst whenadded to other preconditions for growth, theearly annual reports hint that a creative capac-ity in some situations, such as the Lipis road,was also important.

There was concern for physical integrationat the state and district level. Nodal intercon-nection was vital for economic purposes, butit was the political function associated with theBritish administrative concept of the FederatedMalay States that prompted quick network de-velopment. The progress in the constructionof the rail line by 1898 revealed concern overinterstate administrative unity as well as anattempt to maximize the efficiency of com-mercial Hows. The efforts toward efficient ad-ministration are reflected in the increase ofroad densities by 1898 as remote districts werelinked with state administrative centers. Fron-tier roads to Grik and Kuala Selangor were ofthis nature. Similarly, the integration of severalsettlements by a trunk road is clearly depictedby the closing density gap between north andsouth from 1887 to 1911.

By 1911 the transportation network had ex-panded considerably, for the trunk road hadestablished through connection between Penang

11 Federated Malay States, Annual Report of theResident General. 1898 (Kuala Lumpur: G.P.O.,1899), p. 17; and Thomas R. Leinbach, "The Spreadof Transportation and Its Impact upon the Moderniza-tion of Malaya, 1887-1911," Journal of TropicalGeography, Vol. 39 (1974), pp. 54-58.

and Malacca. The largest undertaking was theKuantan road which would ultimately link theeast coast with the development corridor of thewest. The cross peninsular link was undertakenmainly for political purposes. An administra-tive outpost had been developed at Kuantanto organize a revenue collection system and lawenforcement agency. Previously the settlementwas in touch with the west coast only by a longjourney via Singapore by coastal steamer.

The northern states of Kedah, Kelantan,Perlis, and Trengganu (Unfederated MalayStates) had been transferred from Siamese toBritish hands in 1909. The road constructionaround Alor Star and Kota Bharu reflectedadministrative efforts in those regions. Pene-tration roads were also pushed out of coastaland inland nodes in Johore, although therewas no connection between Batu Pahat, Muar,and Johore Bahru other than sea communica-tion. Muar and Batu Pahat were administeredfor many years as separate states with indepen-dent policies.^^

The completed rail line from Butterworth toJohore Bahru spurred the growth of additionaltowns, such as Kluang in Johore. The growthof the east coast rail line to Triang and theconstruction of the Johore line emphasized theneed for new agricultural lands and for acces-sibility for the interior of the peninsula. Thepolitical influence in the effort to reach Kelan-tan was also apparent. It was no coincidencethat the completion of the Johore line alsomarked the extension of British influence intothat sultanate.

The additions to the road network between1887 and 1911 were mainly in the western de-velopment zone, but the greatest change be-tween 1887 and 1898 was in a pocket along theKuala Lumpur-Malacca axis and in its coastaloutlets (Fig. 2). The mining activity of Perak,the north-south trunk road, and the link toPahang show clearly. Network change between1898 and 1911 was quite fragmented, and re-veals the outward movement of settlement andadministration from the initial foci. Althoughsome network addition was associated with themain trunk line and the forward movement ofroad penetration, there is also evidence of in-terstitial filling between the coast and the main

^~ Jobore Annual Report, 1911 (Singapore: G.P.O.,1912), pp. 12-13; and Leinbach, op. cit., footnote 11,p. 60.

1975 TRANSPORT IN MALAYA 275

development axis. Other pockets of change re-flect new mining and agricultural schemes.

The initial phase of transport expansion wasrelated to regional economic exploration. Feed-back from the trial period in the form of tin rev-enues either produced a recurrent demand forupgrading and expansion of the network or theonset of regional decay. Major roads linkingstates or districts were capable of survival, butoften simpler roads (costing as little as threehundred dollars per mile) which linked mines todistrict centers and main villages could notsurvive. The depletion of mineral resources andthe high cost of transporting goods caused theirfailure. At the same time, other local roadswhich provided access to police stations andmarkets were fundamental to the emerging eco-nomic and urban development.

ROAD-RAIL COMPETITION AND RUBBER:

1911-1939

Commercial agriculture originated in Malayain the early nineteenth century, but the develop-ment of gambier, sugar, pepper and tapioca"estates" by the Chinese immigrants was oftenextensive rather than intensive. Tapioca, forexample, was planted on newly cleared landfor several years and then abandoned once thesoil was drained of its fertility. Planting spreadconcurrently with the road system in the StraitsSettlements but cultivation often decayed whenthe distance from the market proved limiting.'-'

Coffee cultivation was successful at the end ofthe nineteenth century, but rubber soon be-came the major cash crop. A boom was wellunderway by the first decade of the twentiethcentury. Accessibility was as critical for rub-ber as it had been for tin, and planting wasconcentrated along the major transportationlines. The expansion of tin mining had assistedthe growth of the rail and road systems andmuch of the additional infrastructure in the westcoast states. The rubber industry settled intoareas already served with a transport system,and in particular near areas leading to a majorport where the rubber could be exported andcapital, consumer goods, and labor could beeasily imported to the estates. During the firstdecade of growth, eighty percent of the rubberplanted was in the states of Perak, Selangor,and Negri Sembilan. The spread of the crop

into other states was closely associated withroad and rail accessibility.'*

The major changes in the accessibility pat-tern between 1911 and 1920 were in the statesof Kedah, Johore, Selangor, and Pahang (Fig.3). The completion of the trunk road betweenAlor Star and Sungei Patani and the SungeiPatani-Baling road accounted in part for theexpansion of the road density in Kedah. Therewere also significant road extensions in Johoreas administrative control spread into that state,and coast roads were pushed through to connectthe formerly separate and isolated district head-quarters. Batu Pahat was linked with Kluang,and a road from Kiuang was begun to meet thelink from Mersing. Road density also expandedaround Muar and Segamat, where additionalland was opened for rubber cultivation. Out-lying areas were connected to the main growthpoles at Penang, Ipoh, and Kuala Lumpur. Incentral Pahang the Kuantan road linked eastwith west.

By 1920 rail construction had commencedin Kelantan and the railway had been extendedto Kuala Lipis. The interior mines and ad-ministration of Pahang had reliable accessibilityfor the first time. The rail line, which linkedthe Thailand border with Penang, was com-pleted on the west coast. Along with the trunkroad put through earlier, it secured British in-fluence in the former Siamese states of Perlisand Kedah.^•'' The growth of the railway linegenerated considerable debate over the role ofrailways and roads in the stimulation of newdevelopment. The consensus was that the railline would be effective in opening new landonly if supported by an extensive network offeeder roads.^'^

In September, I urged that the government spenda large sum of money on road construction in theimmediate future for the opening up of suitableplanting country. We already have a railway inPahang and what we want now is not further rail-way construction but the provision of feeder roads.Particularly Pahang and northern Perak are inneed of roads and it will be money well invested.The great difficulty of anybody coming here is thatthey can't get about the country. If they can see theland, they will make application.

13 Jackson, op. cit., footnote 4, Chapters 3 and 4.

1̂ Courtney, op. cit., footnote 3, pp. 98-103.IS Chai Hon-Chan, The Development of British

Malaya, 1896-1909 (Kuala Lumpur: Oxford Univer-sity Press, 1967), Chapter 5.

1" Federated Malay States, Proceedings of the Fed-eral Council, 1925 (Kuala Lumpur: G.P.O., 1926),p. 17.

276 THOMAS R. LEINBACH June

ROAD

NETWORK

CHANGE

1920-1931

ROAD

NETWORK

CHANGE

1931-1939

ROADNETWORKCHANGE1911-1920

FIG. 3. Road network density and change: 1911-1939.

1975 TRANSPORT IN MALAYA 277

Rubber prices fel! in the early 1920s. The in-creased acreage of rubber produced an over-supply, and a sharp drop in American demandtriggered the fall in price.

Between 1920 and 1931 the network changedonly slightly in the well developed core areas(Fig. 3). The greatest change was on thefrontier as emerging growth poles, particularlyon the east coast, enlarged their hinterlands.The expansion of the road network in southernKedah and central Johore along the rail lineemphasized, however, the continuing influenceof rubber in shaping the development patternof Malaya despite the earlier threat of estatebankruptcy.

In the 1920s the rail network reached itsgreatest length with the completion of the eastcoast line from Gemas to Tumpat in Kelantan.Simultaneous expansion of both rail and road,however, had serious consequences:'^

The Federated Malay States Railways in com-mon with other Railways which have had to com-pete with an extensive system of roads, have sufferedseverely during the year from a rapidly developingroad competition as well as sustaining serious lossesdue to the world wide acute depression in generaltrade. The opening of the Rengam-Kluang andKampar-Telok Anson roads during the past yearhas adversely affected railway revenue.

The Kuala Selangor and the Kuala Pilah rail-way branch lines were closed because of roadcompetition. Rate cutting on the railway re-sulted in a very low return per ton mile. Manyrailways lost short haul traffic to the roads, butthe loss of long haul traffic in Malaya was di-sastrous. Much of that traffic went to coastalshipping, since vessels could call at numerousports without paying a harbor fee.'^

The Depression caused a decline in Ameri-can automobile production and forced largescale unemployment in Malayan mines andestates. The drop in government export taxrevenue on rubber and tin, along with the se-vere impact upon service industries, forced apolicy of retrenchment in which many capitalexpenditures were cut off. Despite the economiccrisis, the network did grow in the late 1930s.The expansion of rubber acreage, both on es-tates and on smallholdings, accounted for much

of the change in Selangor, Negri Sembilan,Johore, and Kedah.^^ Administrative outpostson the east coast were connected when thetrunk road linked Kota Bharu and interveningsettlements with Kuala Trengganu. In 1939,however, Kuantan still had no through con-nection.

The growth of the road network between1911 and 1939 emphasizes two critical goals ofthe development process. Major new routeswelded frontier administrative outposts to themain development cores. The Kedah trunkroad, the Kuantan crosspeninsular link, andthe east coast road are examples. Lateral roadsbranched off the main corridor across the north-south mountains and hills to produce physicalpolitical integration within states and districts.Administrative control to provide stability wasan important theme from 1911 to 1939, as ithad been earlier. Several main frontier roadswere pushed to the east before 1911, but mostlateral extensions were coastal lines. Between1911 and 1939 there was more concern withcross grain linkages to connect the expandingsettlement on the enlarged frontier to theeast.

The political theme was important, but it wasprimarily the economic potential of rubber culti-vation which encouraged the growth of theroad system. Despite the earlier utility of therailway as a development tool, the strongroad-rail competition which developed after1911 forced major decisions on transportationpolicy. The administrators, hoping to maximizeincome, recognized the road as the most flexiblemeans of developing that potential.

Some roads failed to generate the anticipateddevelopment. High costs of transport, the de-pletion or weak reserves of mineral resources,and even competition from other roads placedalternative markets within closer reach. It isquite appropriate, therefore, to view the devel-opment of the transportation system as a self-perpetuating feedback process. Revenues andtraffic generated from the road would lead tofurther extension and upgrading or abandon-ment. Recurrent demand and new activity flowswould revitalize the cycle. Investment decisions

I'f Federated Malay States, Railways Annual Re-port, 1930 (Kuala Lumpur: G.P.O., 1931), p. 11.

18 Federated Malay States, op. cit., footnote 17,p. 12.

IS Lim Chong-Yah, Economic Development ofModern Malaya (Kuala Lumpur: Oxford UniversityPress. 1967), pp. 107-U and Appendix 4.4, p. 330.

278 THOMAS R. LEINBACH June

Kuala 40Trengganu

80

ROAD

NETWORK

CHANGE

1939-1950

ROAD

NETWORK

CHANGE

1950-1958

ROAD

NETWORK

CHANGE

1958-1968

FIG. 4. Road network density and change: 1939-1968. The Japanese removed 200 miles ofrailway between Mentakab and Kuala Krai during the war. Reconstruction was interrupted byguerilla activity during the Emergency and in 1950 a gap of 114 miles between Bertam andJerantut remained to be completed. The Tronoh and Malacca branch lines, also removed duringthe Occupation, were not replaced.

1975 TRANSPORT IN MALAYA 279

based upon poor infortnadon, or more oftenupon too little information, retarded develop-ment.2"

RURAL MODERNIZATION: 1939-1968

Few roads were constructed on the peninsuladuring the Japanese occupation, but the roadnetwork expanded after World War II (Fig. 4) .The largest amounts of road construction werein Province Wellesley, Kedah, and Kelantan.By 1958 postwar recovery was in progress, andmany areas had new roads. The most dramaticchange was in Selangor, Negri Sembiian, andKedah. In central Kedah, a detailed web ofsecondary roads had been developed. Many ofthese roads had been constructed to combatthe communist insurgency and to provide ac-cess to new rubber areas and irrigated padi land.The growth also reflected the rapid developmentof road transport. Agriculturalists and manu-facturers recognized the advantages of roadtransport over rail. Continued growth in urban-ization, population, and per capita income trig-gered phenomenal growth in road services andthe construction of new roads. Since a trunkroad system had been established by 1950,much of the new growth consisted of ruralsecondary roads.

By 1968 road density had increased nearlyeverywhere on the peninsula (Fig. 4) . Therewere few interior areas where no roads hadpenetrated. For example, in southern Kelantanthe east coast railway line served small andotherwise inaccessible villages. After its comple-tion many villages along the railway grew tobecome viable central places, and roads wereextended laterally to encourage trade. Theearliest roads were built from small centerssuch as these, but road expansion gradually de-clined as rail traffic became a minor source ofsupport. Feeder roads were forged from fron-tier settlements near the edge of the jungle intoinaccessible land. The expansion and upgradingof the network around major urban places wenthand in hand with the development of com-merce as connections to the outlying trade areas

were improved. Many villages were connectedto a central place.

Much of the development between 1950 and1968 came about through a national develop-ment strategy aimed at rural modernization.New feeder roads were constructed to provideaccess to new agricultural land, medical clinics,schools, and markets. Planned settlementschemes were an important part of the develop-ment strategy. Projects initiated by the FederalLand Development Authority provided rubberand oil palm smallholdings to landless peoplein frontier areas.-' The aim was to bring ad-ditional land into productivity and to reduceunderemployment and unemployment in ruralareas. From 1958 to 1968, 520 miles of internalvillage roads and feeder roads were built to linkthe settlements to the main road network.Schemes in Johore, Pahang, and Negri Sem-biian accounted for approximately sixty percentof the total mileage (Fig. 4 ) , but major addi-tions were also made in Kedah, Perak, andTrengganu.-- Rural development road con-struction also took place in anticipation of andresponse to agricultural development withinthe Muda and Kemubu irrigation schemes ofKedah and Kelantan.

Interstitial filling continued. Network re-dundancy took place in Kedah between thetrunk road and coastal routes and in centralJohore between the trunk road and the rail-way (Fig. 4) . Major trunk road additions werenot important, since the basic framework hadbeen laid, but several important linkages wereconstructed, such as the Bahau-Jerantut roadparallel to the railway in central Pahang andthe upgrading of the Kuantan-Mersing-Singa-pore link on the east coast. These were intendedto improve accessibility to areas which had eco-nomic potential but poor connections to portsor other trading centers.

TRANSPORTATION AND SOCIAL SERVICES

The transportation pattern evolved to permiteffective administrative control and economicdevelopment, but it also facilitated the spread

2" Allan R. Pred and Gunnar E. Tornqvist, Systemsof Cities and Informalion Flows: Two Essays, LundStudies in Geography, Series B, Human Geography,No. 38 (Lund: Royal University of Lund, depart-ment of Geography, 1973), pp. 55-58.

21 Johnson, op. cit., footnote 1, pp. 393-99; andR. Wikkramatileke, "State Aided Rural Land Coloni-zation in Malaya: An Appraisal of the F.L.D.A. Pro-gram," Annals, Association of American Geographers,Vol. 55 (1965), pp. 377-403.

-- Jabatan Kerja Raya, Panjanf^ Jalan-Jalan FeldaRengkasan (Kuala Lumpur: JKR, 1973).

280 THOMAS R . LEINBACH June

FACILITIES (01BOO

1890 1900 1910 t9Z0 1930 1940 1950 1960 19ro

FIG. 5. The growth of postal facilities and roadmileage: 1890-1970. Source: Public Works and PostalDepartment Annual Reports.

of social services. In the Straits Settlements andelsewhere, the spread of police outposts wasan important corollary of network expansion.Travelling dispensaries which provided drugsand vaccinations were able to visit the ruralpeople. Roads had to provide regular physicalcommunication before postal and telegraphagencies could be established (Fig. 5). By1900, small rural postal agencies had begun toappear along the road and rail networks insettlements where the flow of mail and otherneeds did not warrant the investment of a build-ing and full-time postmaster. In many cases,arrangements were made for a clerk or railwaystation master to keep a supply of postagestamps and to accept letters and parcels fordispatch and delivery. The postal agency oftenhad a short existence where mining fields weredepleted or tin ore was not uncovered. In othercases, the rural agency was upgraded to a postoffice with a savings bank, money order facili-ties, and a full range of postal services. Postalservices and later commercial banks, healthcenters, schools, and telephone exchanges wereable to penetrate the rural areas as a result ofthe spread of the road network.

The growth of information disseminating in-stitutions, such as health centers, post offices,and particularly schools, in rural areas had im-portant implications for the spread of familyplanning, agricultural technology, and otherinnovations. It is more difficult to marshal firmevidence which links the growth of roads to at-titude change, yet occasional reports in an-nual state records suggest that roads encouraged

a positive outlook and initiated a demand foreducation and change.-^

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

The initial period of transportation develop-ment reflected an effort to bind the several statesunder British administration into a well knitpolitical unit. Trunk linkages were forged toconnect state capitals and second order roadswere built to allow communications amongdistricts within states. The road and rail net-works also served to extract tin ore along thewest coast and provided a more reliable formof haulage than the rivers. Tin revenues wereinvested in additional and upgraded transporta-tion linkages. Roads had a dual function; theyserved and created development in areas re-mote from the railway, and they channelledtrade to the railway. The railway provided sup-port and thus was an impetus to road growth inmany areas.

The network that was established during theformative period provided a base for the de-velopment of agriculture. Estates first spread toaccessible areas in mining districts, initially asribbon developments along the railway, butgradually spreading axially. The flexibility ofthe road was recognized as a tool in economicdevelopment when rubber smallholdings be-came successful. Road and rail were largelycomplementary up to 1930, but thereafter thepervasive feeling was that roads could open upnew country more efficiently. Between 1911and 1939 secondary roads were used to opennew land and fill the interstices in the main roadsystem in the west coast zone of development,and major and secondary linkages were builtto extend administrative control to the expand-ing eastern frontier.

Since World War II feeder and secondaryroads have been extended as part of a massiverural development effort to increase accessibilityto markets, schools, medical clinics, new agri-cultural land, and urban places. The growthof accessibility has had a significant impactupon the spread of communication and healthservices, such as mobile postal units and ruralmedical clinics. The more efficient diffusion of

23 Unfederated Malay States, Trengganu AnnualReport, 1920 {Kuala Lumpur: G.P.O., 1921), p. 8;and Federated Malay States, Selangor Annual Report.1933 (Kuala Lumpur: G.P.O., 1934), p. 80.

1975 TRANSPORT IN MALAYA 281

information must effect the modernization pro-cess.

The emphasis in the development objectivesof the road system in the late nineteenth centurywas economic and administrative. The eco-nomic objective has remained, but with thecompletion of a basic road grid by 1950, theemphasis in road construction has been uponsocial rather than political objectives.

Transportation development followed a gen-eral model of scattered ports, penetration lines,lateral interconnections, and feeder growth.-*'There were no discrete historical stages in net-work expansion. Trunk construction joinedseparate parts of a political unit while secondarydevelopment roads penetrated the frontier.Newly settled east coast areas were connectedwhile the construction of secondary and feederroads produced interstitial filling on the westcoast. The early establishment of administra-tive-commercial centers along the western foot-hills with outlet channels to the coast set a rigidpattern for development. With the interconnec-tion of the centers, a development axis and a setof core regions with coastal offshoots emergedand crystallized. The growth of the urban placesalong the main transportation path may belikened to the process of port concentration.-^Select centers emerged to dominate the urbanhierarchy as comparative locational advantagesshifted. Kuala Lumpur, with a major port out-let, centrality, and political advantages, emergedas the dominant center on the peninsula overPenang, Taiping, Ipoh, and Malacca (Fig. 6) .

Several ideas in the network growth processin Malaya provide support for a more generalmodel of transportation and city-system devel-opment.-*" The trunk road which connected theinitial major nodes was self-reinforcing. Ini-tially the concern for administrative unity de-manded interaction but later the concentrationof specialized economic activities also provided

24 Edward J. Taaffe. Richard L, Morrill, and PeterR. Gould, "Transport Expansion in UnderdevelopedCountries: A Comparative Analysis." Gco^raphiculReview, Vol. 53 (1963), pp. 503-29.

^ Taaffe, Morrill, and Gould, op. cit.. footnote 24.pp. 506-11; and Peter I. Rimmer, "The ChangingStatus of New Zealand Seaports, 1853-1960," Annals,Association of American Geographers, Vol. 57 (1967),pp. 88-100.

-" Pred and Tornqvist, op. cit.. footnote 20, pp. 55-58; and Donald G. Janelle. "Spatial Reorganization:A Model and Concept," Annals, Association of Ameri-can Geographers, Vol. 59 (1969), pp. 348-64.

%100

'00-,

80-

60-

40-

20-

1895

Bf

I

^ • 5 S g O » c 5 |

" S 0 5 0 0 i i 3

3 r » ?

FIG. 6. Modernization profiles: 1895-1969. Theprofiles were constructed from "scores" which werederived from a principal component analysis of socio-economic variables for the major urban areas. The"score" for each urhan cell was expressed as a per-centage of the highest value in each time period;Thomas R. Leinbach, "The Spread of Modernizationin Malaya, 1895-1969," Tijdsclirift voor Economischeen Sociale Geografie, Vol. 63 (1972), pp. 262-77.

a strong base for complementarity. The inter-action which took place generated further ec-onomic growth and further response in fiows.Transportation improvements took place among

282 THOMAS R . LEINBACH June

the larger towns such as Penang, Ipoh, andKuala Lumpur, and also between the cities andtheir tributary areas. The result was a declinein the friction or significance of distance be-tween places. The impact of "time-space con-vergence" is not homogeneous, for the de-clining significance of distance benefits thelarger more distantly spaced cities more thanit does the smaller ones.-^ The early establish-ment of a set of interconnected growth centerscombined with the influence of "time-spaceconvergence" caused by network upgradingproduced a self-reinforcing system. Urban con-centration and the dominance of Kuala Lumpurwere aided through special locational andtransportation advantages.

Recurrent demand for network growth wasa critical aspect of Malayan transportation andurban development. The upgrading of linkageswithin the network occurred where anticipatedtraffic was realized. New or improved linkagesstimulated additional growth which led to fur-ther elaboration of the network. Tin, and laterrubber, revenues were used for transportation

2"̂ Donald G. Janelle, "Central Place Developmentin a Time-Space Framework," Professional Geogra-pher, Vol. 20 (1968), pp. 5-10.

investment capital. The impact of the con-structed linkages permitted new network growthin untapped areas. Lower order urban placesalso were the recipients of the benefits of rubberand mining expansion. Additional services weredemanded and generated from the new eco-nomic growth. Consequently, linkages were im-proved among the rubber and mining clustersand small towns. Thus in Malaya it is useful toview the expansion and upgrading of the net-work and the growth of urban places as anintermeshed process. Commercial flows are trig-gered from the rural production zones and ur-ban consumption points in the hierarchy simul-taneously, and lead to a recurrent investment inthe road network. Fxploratory linkages whichproduced little or no positive feedback wereallowed to decay and recurrent demands wereshut off.

The growing body of evidence which relatestransportation and urban growth has relevancefor regional development policy. At a timewhen there is considerable interest in plannedgrowth centers, alternative network improve-ments and the total impact of such improve-ments, particularly transportation sensitivity tosocial values, must be critically examined.