Introduction Malay families and households in Singapore experience various socio-economic changes due to industralization. As familes and households are not fixed nor isolated from the wider society, these socio-economic changes are seen to tamper with the “ideal Malay family”. Djamour (1959) states that the “ideal Malay family” is predominantly made up of a nuclear family comprising of a married couple and children. The head of the household is the chief wage earner and is mostly the man, while women see to housework and caring of small children. This natural patriarchal notion result in a very clear divisions of male-female domains of daily responsibilities in a household (Nirmala, 1993). However, families and households are not static units of support, but instead they adapt to socio-economic changes by adopting variations in household strategies which lead to changes in …show more content…
Demographic change in educational profile of female Since Singapore’s independence, the government’s provision of education saw her population increasingly attaining at least secondary educational qualifications. According to Singapore Census of Population 2000 Release No.2, 57% of the non-student population aged 15 years and above in 2000 had secondary or higher qualifications, up from 42% in 1990. Also, the Malays in Singapore have improved their education profile in the last ten years, from 36% to an increase of 50% of the Malay ethnic group with secondary or higher qualifications. Furthermore, Table 1.1 presents the indices of the development of Singapore Malay students’ educational performance. Using year 2000 as a base with an index of 100.00, the education index rose from 36.72 in 1980 to 146.39 in 2010 (AMP, 2015). The indices for post-secondary and tertiary enrolment have also increased very significantly. Table 1.1: Education Development Indices of Singapore Malays in 1980 – 2010 Field/ Sub-field 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005