ETHNIC FERTILITY DIFFERENTIALS IN PENINSULAR MALAYSIA, 1947-1985

Abstract

Apart from pure academic interest, analysis of fertility changes 'explains' and predicts a major part of population changes. Populations with high fertility have a tremendous built-in momentum for growth and vice versa. In the case of plural Malaysia, the present population stands at 16.5 million (about 14 million in Peninsular Malaysia), with the majority being the Malays (57 per cent) and the two principal minorities being the Chinese (31 per cent) and the Indians (11 per cent). Ethnic fertility differentials, hence, have important demographic as well as socioeconomic implications. For this reason, an analysis of the postwar ethnic fertility differentials in Peninsular Malaysia is the objective of this study. In the process of analysis, factors contributing to the pattern of differences in fertility and implications are examined. General definitions, sources of data and measurement of fertility are spelt out in the introductory chapter. In chapter two, several crude measures of fertility are used to analyse the ethnic fertility patterns. In addition, other vital rates, namely crude death rate and infant mortality rate are examined to highlight the demographic transition over the years. Age structure of the female population is accounted for in the analysis of fertility patterns in chapter three. As such, the analysis in this chapter provides a more precise indication of fertility differentials than in the previous chapter. Since marriage usually marks the onset of the female reproduction process, changes in marriage patterns then hold significant influence on fertility levels. For this reason, in chapter four, we confine our analysis mainly to the married female population. In chapter five, we adopt the Princeton's indices in our analysis of fertility patterns which have not been used in earlier studies on the population of Peninsular Malaysia. Besides, Princeton's indices provide accurate measures of fertility and marriage patterns, complementing the analyses done in earlier chapters. In chapter six, we look into the population policies: anti-natalist policy before 1982 and pro-natalist policy after 1982. The first part of this chapter is mainly devoted to discussing the objectives and targets of the anti-natalist policy and their impacts on the fertility patterns. The second part is aimed at studying the pronatalist policy. Though several implications of the policy are examined, we cannot confidently state that they are binding, due to the fact that the policy is targeted at almost 120 years from 1982. The principal observations of the study are brought together in the concluding chapter