The Malay Family: Beliefs and Realities

The study of Malay family and its ideology has to start with an understanding of the interlinkages of three basic foundations: the traditional socio-cultural configuration which is internally understood as adad, the impact and accommodation of Islamic religious principles and the influence of British colonial legislative laws. Compounding all these three major influences is the current direct exposure of family members, especially the younger generation, to foreign familial interaction pattern as portrayed, rightly or otherwise, by the mass media. The electronic media, especially, brought in an alternative structure of interaction in a pattern of family socialisation for the younger generation and create a sort of structural gap in the situation of family life.