“Tanah Rizab Melayu”, it can only be owned and held by Malays as stated under the Malay Reservation Enactment 1913. Other characteristics that distinguish MRLs from Bumi Lots include:

• Malay owners are not allowed to rent out properties built on MRLs or the lands to non-Malays

• All businesses that operate on MRLs must be owned by Malays

Malay Reserve Land issues

• Multiple ownership
  Most of the MRLs are facing the problem of multiple ownerships due to Islamic inheritance laws. A Malay family divides inheritance, including land, according to Faraid law. Therefore, all those concerned will have to agree to the terms of the sale or lease of the land.

• Compensation
  According to Land Acquisition Act 1960, compensation to the residents must be made according to fair market value. Some of the reserve lands have very strategic locations (such as Kampung Baru), but due to the restriction on dealings and its “non-transferable to non-Malay” status, the market value of the land has been depressed.

• Concerns of the Malay community
  In most of the Malay residents’ eyes, the Malay reservation is significant to the Malay community’s identity and dignity. Therefore, they believe that development should not come at the expense of Malay identity and rights or the descendants of the original settlers and the present landowners.

Can Malay Reserve Land be released and sold to non-Malays?

• The major difference between a Bumi Lot and a Malay Reserve Land is the latter CANNOT be charged to a non-Malay individual/ corporate entity. This provision is among the privileges guaranteed for the Malays under the Federal Constitution. It was also one of seven messages contained in the Wasiat Raja-Raja Melayu that was agreed upon by the Malay Rulers on Aug 5, 1957.

• Under the Malay Reservation Enactment 1913, covering the Federated Malay States of Selangor, Perak, Negeri Sembilan, and Pahang, all land declared as Malay Reserve Land “cannot at any time be sold, leased or handed over to any person who is non-Malay” unless it is declared and enacted to be void by the Menteri Besar.

• The other Malay States implemented their Malay Reservation Enactments at different times – Kelantan in 1930, Perlis (1935), Johor (1936), and Terengganu (1941). However, an exception to this rule can be found in Kedah, as seen in a Federal Court case between Affin Bank Bhd v Jamaludin Jaafar; The Association of Banks in Malaysia & Anor (Interveners). The court concluded that the land can still be charged to a non-Malay, provided that the rights of the land are not transferred to a non-Malay.