62 / 210
[
] 60
A
dvancing
S
ocial
I
ntegration
and
I
ntergenerational
S
olidarity
package serves as a roadmap to a lasting and happy marriage.
It contains valuable information, tips and advice for young
couples in seven key areas: marriage preparation; marriage;
family health; pregnancy and childbirth; parenthood; manag-
ing family resources; and managing stress and conflict.
Skills and knowledge on financial and expenditure
management are important in order to achieve finan-
cial stability and harmonious family life. Realizing this,
the NPFDB introduced a family financial management
programme called SMARTBelanja@LPPKN in 2009. This
programme is implemented in collaboration with the
Credit Management and Counselling Agency (an agency
under the Central Bank of Malaysia) and NGOs as one of
the strategies to help families plan their expenditure wisely.
Since its inception, 37 programmes have been implemented
benefitting more than 1,490 participants.
The introduction of the National Policy on Reproductive
Health and Social Education and its Action Plan in
November 2009 has paved the way for increased access
to reproductive health education, information and services
for adolescents and youth, stressing religious and ethical
values as well as responsible behaviours. A major milestone
under this policy has been the integration of reproduc-
tive health and social education in the National Service
Training curriculum in 2011, which covers more than
100,000 school leavers each year.
Fifty-eight One-Stop Family Centres have been estab-
lished throughout the country to offer family support
services and programmes such as counselling, therapy,
reproductive health services, adolescent psychosexual
development, and family education and training.
Another significant development by the MWFCD is the 1
AZAM programme (AZAM is an acronym for ending poverty).
This is an initiative to lift low-income households out of poverty.
Since it was launched in 2010, more than 63,000 households
have been provided with various forms of assistance such as
jobs, life skills training and entrepreneur guidance.
One of the best ways to ensure balance and harmony
between work and family is through the implementation of
family-friendly workplace policies and practices. To assist
and support working families, the Government of Malaysia
has encouraged ministries and government departments as
well as the private sector to establish childcare centres at
workplaces that will provide support to working parents
and enable them to advance further in their careers. A
one-off RM200,000 launching grant incentive is given
to government agencies to establish childcare centres at
the workplace. For the private sector, a 10 per cent tax
exemption is given on the cost of building the childcare
centres for a period of 10 years. Further, a monthly subsidy
of RM180 for each child sent to these childcare centres
is given to civil servants with a monthly total household
income of less than RM5,000.
Pregnancy and early childcare are challenging times
for working women and their families. In order to strike
a balance between work and family, female government
employees are given the flexibility of 60-90 days of mater-
nity leave, subject to a maximum of 300 days throughout
their service. Male employees in the public sector are
given seven-day paternity leave to take care of their wife
and newborn child, compared to the three days previously
given. This is one of the initiatives to increase male involve-
ment in family matters. As for the private sector, a number
of multinational companies have started providing 90-day
maternity leave for their female employees. This initiative
was also implemented by locally-owned banks with the
signing of a collective agreement between the banks and
the National Union of Bank Employees in 2010.
Families constantly face new pressures and challenges due
to rapid industrialization, modernization and globalization.
Realizing that the well-being of the family is the primary goal
in the development of the country, the MWFCD, through
the NPFDB, has pioneered the development of the Malaysian
Family Well-being Index. Developed in 2010, the index
comprises seven domains that cover key family well-being
components, namely family relationships, family economy,
family health, family and community, family and religion,
family and safety, and housing and environment. The index
measures the subjective well-being of families. Currently,
the Malaysian Family Well-being Index score is 7.55 out of
10, indicating that Malaysian families have a relatively high
level of well-being and are able to manage the challenges of
development. Data for the index will be collected every three
to five years, to enable the monitoring of the well-being of
families and to suggest or provide directions for the develop-
ment of family-friendly policies, programmes and services.
The MWFCD, through the NPFDB, has implemented
numerous programmes and services to ensure sustainable
family development and strong, stable families. Through
these key initiatives, it is envisaged that the realization
of a caring society, quality population and progressive
Malaysian nation will be realized.
Family well-being index (7.55)
Domain score
2
4
6
8
Family’s
economic
Family’s
health
Family’s safety
Family and
community
Family and
religion/spiritual
6.90
7.38
7.39
8.25
7.23
Family and
environment
7.28
Family relationships
7.82
Malaysia’s Family Well-being Index, 2010
(scored out of 10)
Source: National Population and Family Development Board, 2012