Malaysia

The southeast Asian country of Malaysia was a British colony until it gained independence in 1957. Malaysia consists of a mainland portion bordering Thailand and Singapore, and the northern one-third of the island of Borneo that borders Brunei and Indonesia. With a population of 27.7 million (2008 estimate), it has a birth rate of 22.9 per 1,000 and an infant mortality rate of 17.2 per 1,000 live births. Abortion is legal only to save the woman's life or preserve her mental and physical health.

The original inhabitants of west Malaysia were the Orang Asli, and the Penan, the Iban, and other groups in east Malaysia. Many still follow animist traditions, living in village communities with extended families wherever possible, able to assist mothers with birthing and raising children. The Malay people, the majority of the country's current population, also traditionally lived in villages (kampongs), and their mothering practices follow Islamic teachings.

The arrival of the Chinese and Indians—some from the late medieval period, but many from the second half of the 19th and the early 20th centuries—transformed society in what was then British Malaya. While Confucian practices prevailed in the Chinese communities, many of the original settlers were males, and it was not until later with the arrival of many Chinese women and the emergence of extended families that the three- or four-generation family cohabitation began to imitate the lifestyle of China.

The Chinese community was also divided into linguistic groups, with the Teochew, Hokkien, [Page 679]Hakka, and other groups forming mutual help organizations, that together with clan groups, helped families and mothers in distress. As with the Chinese immigrants, many of the initial Indian settlers were male, and also had their own groupings of Tamils (who predominate in the Indian community in Malaysia), Andamanese, Sinhalese, Sikhs, and others.

There have also been many Indian and Arab Muslims who have tended, for reasons of religion, to integrate easily into mainstream Malay society. Currently, family affairs are governed by Islamic law. Divorce is easily obtained by men, but not by women. For example, a 2003 case gained worldwide publicity when a man successfully divorced his wife by sending her a text message.

The Europeans in Malaysia during colonial times generally employed an amah, who had the responsibility of bringing up children, and sometimes even served as a wet nurse. There are many cases of European men marrying non-European women, and these families often followed the practice of having a local amah, sometimes looking after several generations within the same family. Since independence, the wealth of the country has led to the emergence of a large Malay and Chinese middle-class who have continued the practice of hiring amahs, although many of them are now from Indonesia.

Since the 1890s, the British established a system of hospitals throughout the country. Although they mainly concentrated on treating Europeans, they were by no means exclusive, as were hospitals in colonial Africa. Chinese and later Malay philanthropists donated funds to establish hospitals for the treatment of the sick of all nationalities. For Europeans, many women expecting children retreated to the highlands and other places with more temperate climates, which accounts for the significant number of Europeans born in places such as Batu Gajah, where a large maternity hospital has been located for many years. Others sought better medical treatment in Singapore.

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