2.0 Background of Social Welfare Architecture in Malaysia

2.0 Background of Social Welfare Architecture in Malaysia

There are hundreds of thousands of orphans in Malaysia and it is estimated more than 40 thousand orphans require assistance and live a better life. There are hundreds of orphanages in our country, some are registered and some are not. The actual number of orphanages cannot be estimated accurately[1]. However orphanages are always insufficient to accommodate the large number of orphans all the time. On the other hand, Minister of Women, Family and Community Development Datuk Dr Ng Yen Yen said that the number of senior citizens aged 60 and above is increasing rapidly in these recent years in our country due to declining of birth rate and the improvement of health services. This indirectly increase the number of elderly living in old folks home as well.

From the survey that have been done, it shows that 76% of the people in Malaysia agree that the main problem faced by most of the private social welfare homes is the funding problem as they are not funded by the government. Apart from that, interviews with the person-in-charge in these homes were also carried out. For the private homes, their major financial income comes from donation from the public. Most of them are located at the residential areas, which the house is donated by some enthusiastic people. It is important to ensure the quality of life, the care received, the environment surrounding and the medical and education received by the old folks and orphans by providing the best care, facilities and services for them.

2.1 Living Lifestyle in Kuala Lumpur

The living lifestyle in Kuala Lumpur is very busy and the living status is very high as it is the main city of Malaysia. Most of the youngsters are working from morning till late evening in order to keep up with the cost of living. As a result, they have not enough time to take care of their old parents and their young children. For those who are financially stable, they have the choice to hire maids or send their family members to day care homes but for those who have financial problem they have no choice but to send them to old folks home or orphanage. There is a large number of elderly and children being abandoned in Kuala Lumpur.

2.2 Importance & Role of social welfare architecture to the society

Social welfare architecture plays a very important role to the society as they are the shelter for the abandoned or outcasts. Moreover, the living condition of these homes will reflect the attitude and moral values of the society.