The school system

For children in Malaysia, school starts at the age of six. They then go to primary school for six years. After the secondary school, which follows the elementary school for another three years, they can still attend the upper school. This lasts another two years and then the children are allowed to study at a university. School in Malaysia is free and all children are allowed to go to a public school. But compulsory schooling only applies to the first few years. Anyone who wants to and can pay can attend a private school.

Schools in Malaysia

The oldest schools in Malaysia were madrasas. In these schools the teaching of religion – namely that of Islam – was in the foreground. Later non-religious schools were added. The British – who made Malaysia a colony – took care of building the schools. It was taught in the English language. When the Chinese and Indians immigrated to Malaysia, they founded their own schools.

Overweight children

If you have already stopped by other East Asian countries on your trip around the world, you have to find out that many children here are malnourished, that they get sick as a result and some even die. But what about Malaysia?

Malaysia has another problem and that is that many children are now overweight. Every fourth child is said to be too fat and ten out of 100 children even really fat. Even if Malaysian food is very diverse, children – following the example of children in large western cities – also like to use fast food. Many hamburger chains you may know have their branches in Malaysia. As in many other places in the world, the food is too fat, too unhealthy and simply contains too much sugar. The consequences are then too fat children. Malaysia shares this problem with many Western countries.

To be weighed at school?

By the way, in 2011 there was a message that the government of Malaysia wanted to do something about the overweight of its students. The body mass index should be shown in school reports. This index, referred to as BMI for short, relates body size to body weight. This is then calculated using a calculation formula. The significance of these results is, however, controversial. But this result should end up in the school reports of children in Malaysia. Imagine if your testimony said how difficult or how light you are. Many teachers weigh students regularly.

What is Sepak Takraw?

The fact that many people in Malaysia are overweight does not rule out the fact that people like to do sports there! Many people like to play Sepak Takraw, which is a very old ball sport that has been around for more than 600 years. The residents of Thailand and Malaysia especially like to play this. In the meantime this sport has spread throughout the Asian region. A ball belongs to this game and it was originally made of woven rattan. You just kicked this ball, mostly at events or when it just got boring. This game had no sense or purpose and was initially not understood as a competition. But then the British came into play, who are keen ball players and turned the amusement game into a competition.

The role of women

Are women and men equal in Malaysia?

In Malaysia, a country located in Asia according to itypeauto, girls go to school and many also complete higher education and then go to university. Many families place great value on education. As many women can write and read as men and half of the students are women. Women run companies and have important roles in politics. But as in many other countries, there are big differences between urban and rural areas. On the one hand, well-educated women play an important role in politics and society. 40 out of 100 employed people are women. But there are also many women who live their traditional roles as housewives and mothers and whose lives are determined by the man. Some men beat their wives, but such crimes often never go public.

Suppression of the opposing voices

There are not only differences between town and country, but also the question of what class a woman belongs to. Many women live in families as housemaids. They hardly have any rights, they lead a simple life, receive little wages and often do not have a room of their own, but sleep on mats on the floor. Again and again human rights activists try to draw attention to abuses in the country. This is not an easy thing because they often face jail sentences. The government doesn’t want criticism. And naming and clearing up grievances is also criticism of the government.

Dress

Many women in Malaysia are Muslim and dress accordingly. How to wear a tudung, which is a headscarf or veil that is tied around your head. In addition, the women wear a piece of clothing called Baju kurung, which is put on over a long skirt. It looks like a very long blouse or almost a dress. The colors and embroidery are completely different, depending on the region and tradition, there are also more modern variants. These clothes are worn not only in Malaysia, but also in Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore and Brunei. The Baju kurung, by the way, men also wear a turban, but not a veil. Non-Muslim women, women of other religions and women in the larger cities, however, wear different clothes.