Importance of Interest Groups

Interest groups are one important avenue which the people of Malaysia make their ideas, demands, needs and views known to elected representatives or legislation be it to the ruling party or the opposition parties. People normally find an interest group that focuses on their concerns and daily cores. Not all interest groups are political motivated, but many of these interest groups may try to or campaign to influence public policies. Interest groups in Malaysia exist in various forms, via formal structure, registered as a society, club or association, which we usually call them as non-governmental organizations (NGOs); in certain circumstances some interest groups may also register in a form of a company limited by guarantee, private limited company or as a small business entity. This is due to the fact that the government's registrar of societies' reluctance to see these NGOs flourish under their book. The other type of interest groups are existing in an informal stru...