Yes that is one of the reason.
Other then that, it could be due to the chinese population spread
in m'sia. Places where there are Chinese tend to do better
economically. Which are mainly on state of penang, Selangor,
perak(ipoh), JB and meleka. Leaving the malay to chinese ratio one
sided and alot less developed for those state of the north. Hence
the racist and extremists. Beside that, normally town near the sea
or port tend to do better for they have better trade route. that is
the case with all those above mention state.
