State-Led Development: FELDA Between Promise and Power
The Federal Land Development Authority (FELDA) is once again at the centre of Malaysia’s development debate. Its delisting from Bursa Malaysia in August 2025 - framed as financial restructuring- symbolises a deeper shift in the country’s approach to rural development. Once celebrated as Malaysia’s most ambitious rural empowerment project, FELDA’s delisting marks the final consolidation of state power, leaving settlers who were once owners and stakeholders increasingly distanced from decision-making. This outcome underscores how state-led projects can serve as instruments of elite control as much as vehicles of social mobility.
FELDA’s trajectory reflects the ambivalence of state-led development. While it lifted thousands out of poverty and anchored Malaysia’s palm oil industry, its history exposes the risks of politicised governance, financial overreach, and the erosion of smallholder autonomy. Its dramatic shift from empowerment to centralisation - from grassroots participation to elite capture -illustrates that development cannot be measured solely by economic growth. FELDA’s unfinished journey raises a deeper question: whether true development lies in economic success or in the enduring empowerment of the people it was meant to serve.
