TITLE : BANK NEGARA MALAYSIA: ANNUAL REPORT 1990.

 
Preface
 
This book is based on my doctoral dissertation entitled 'Ownership and
Control in a Dependent Economy: The Case of Malaysia's One Hundred
Largest Corporations' which was submitted to the University of
Pittsburgh in April 1978. The research for this study was done during
the period of 1974 to 1977. The topic of ownership and control is as
important as it is fluid. Changes in the pattern of ownership and
control of the economy is a well known fact and hence any such study
tends to be outdated as soon as it is completed.
 
A recent and significant trend that has accelerated considerably is
the increasing participation of the government in public as well as in
private enterprise. It has attained an even greater proportion these
past few years and only part of this trend is captured in this study.
 
In preparing this thesis for publication, I have decided not to make
any substantial revisions as I believe the work depicts quite
accurately the picture of ownership and control of the largest
corporations for the period under study. It is preferable to publish
the study sooner in its original form than to delay it with endless
revisions.
 
In the course of this study I have benefited greatly from many friends
and colleagues, of whom it is only possible to mention a few. I would
like to thank my dissertation committee members, Professors William
Dunn, Daniel Regan, Marshall Singer, Robert Colodny and Vijai Singh
for their careful reading of the manuscript and the critical
suggestions they have offered. Others from whom I have benefited
include Professor John Sonquist of the University of California, Santa
Barbara, where I spent part of my sabbatical in writing up the
dissertation, and Dr. Ang Beng Tung of the Mathematics Department of
the University of Malaya whom I consulted for statistical advice.
 
I would also like to thank the University of Malaya for partial
funding of the research and the numerous research assistants who have
laboriously helped to collect and process the data. There are also the
various typists who have laboured over the many drafts and the final
version of the dissertation who must be thanked. These include Lim Lay
Jin, Samsiah, Khatijah and Roberta Steyer. The assistance of Mrs. Fan
Kok Sim and Mr. Soong Mun Wai of the University of Malaya is also
appreciated.
 
Finally, the person to whom I owe the greatest intellectual debt is
Dr. Mary Anderson. She is a constant source of intellectual
stimulation and
her influence on my thinking and its imprint on this study cannot be
overestimated.
 
Needless to say, I alone bear the responsibility for the shortcomings
of this book.
 
LIM MAH HUI
University of Malaya
Kuala Lumpur
 
November 1978