22/02/2026

ON SUNDAY February 22, 2026 theSunday Special IV

The sandwich generation: Caring for parents while raising kids W HEN Noreen Azman wakes before dawn to prepare her children’s school lunches, she also checks her father’s The complexity of caring in modern Malaysia: Devotion and duty mixed with exhaustion and compromise BY DAYANA SOBRI

The numbers catching families in the squeeze M DOD\VLD¶V SRSXODWLRQ LV DJHLQJ $FFRUGLQJ WR SUHOLPLQDU\ SRSXODWLRQ ILJXUHV WKH VKDUH RI 0DOD\VLDQV DJHG DQG RYHU URVH WR DERXW LQ XS IURP WKH \HDU EHIRUH ZKLOH WKH SURSRUWLRQ RI FKLOGUHQ XQGHU KDV GHFOLQHG ± D WUHQG WKDW SRLQWV WR D VKULQNLQJ \RXWK EDVH DQG D JURZLQJ HOGHUO\ FRKRUW 7KHVH VKLIWLQJ DJH VWUXFWXUH PHDVXUHV XQGHUVFRUH ZK\ PRUH ZRUNLQJ DGXOWV DUH ILQGLQJ WKHPVHOYHV FDULQJ IRU ROGHU UHODWLYHV R HVHDUFKHUV DQG SROLF\ EULHIV KDYH ÀDJJHG WKH µVDQGZLFK JHQHUDWLRQ¶ DV DQ LQWHQVLI\LQJ VRFLDO LVVXH LQ 0DOD\VLD $ UHFHQW UHSRUW E\ UHVHDUFKHUV DW 8QLYHUVLWL 0DOD\D PDSV KRZ ULVLQJ OLIH H[SHFWDQF\ LQDGHTXDWH SHQVLRQ FRYHUDJH DQG WKH FXOWXUDO QRUP RI ILOLDO UHVSRQVLELOLW\ FRPELQH WR FUHDWH ¿QDQFLDO SUHVVXUH IRU PLGGOH DJHG FDUHJLYHUV 7KH UHSRUW DUJXHV that without structural reforms, more households will struggle to meet care QHHGV DFURVV JHQHUDWLRQV F RU PDQ\ IDPLOLHV WKH FRVW RI IRUPDO FDUH LV D UHDO VKRFN 3XEOLVKHG JXLGHV DQG FDUH SURYLGHUV UHSRUW ZLGH UDQJHV IRU nursing home and specialised care costs LQ 0DOD\VLD IURP PRUH D̆ RUGDEOH EDVLF residential options to premium facilities that can run into the thousands of ringgit per month – a gulf few middle-income KRXVHKROGV FDQ DEVRUE ZLWKRXW VDFUL¿FHV HOVHZKHUH 7KRVH QXPEHUV DUH FHQWUDO WR GHFLVLRQV WKDW RIWHQ IDOO WR DGXOW FKLOGUHQ 3URYLGH FDUH DW KRPH KLUH KHOS RU ¿QG D SODFH LQ D FDUH IDFLOLW\

medication chart and calls the caretaker WR FRQ¿UP WRGD\¶V YLVLW $W WKH .XDOD Lumpur-based schoolteacher said she is grateful to be able to care for both generations in her life – but the juggling DFW LV ZHDULQJ WKLQ “ 6RPH GD\V , IHHO OLNH , KDYH WZR IXOO WLPH MREV $W WKH Ṙ FH , DP H[SHFWHG WR EH SURGXFWLYH DW KRPH , PXVW EH SDWLHQW DQG YLJLODQW 7KHUH¶V QR SDXVH EXWWRQ ´ VKH DGPLWWHG Noreen is part of a growing cohort of 0DOD\VLDQV FDXJKW LQ WKH VDQGZLFK $GXOWV VLPXOWDQHRXVO\ UDLVLQJ \RXQJ RU WHHQDJH FKLOGUHQ ZKLOH SURYLGLQJ ¿QDQFLDO SK\VL FDO RU HPRWLRQDO FDUH WR DJHLQJ SDUHQWV 'HPRJUDSKLF VKLIWV DQG FXOWXUDO H[SHFWD tions are colliding with modern economic UHDOLWLHV OHDYLQJ PDQ\ IDPLOLHV VWUHWFKHG tight between obligations, budgets and EXUQRXW

Community support plays a key role in helping families cope.