22/02/2026

ON SUNDAY February 22, 2026 theSunday Special V

UNDP’s landscape analysis of Malay sia’s care economy highlights the diversity of care needs and supply gaps, urging a more coordinated policy approach to sup port both care recipients and caregivers. For some, hiring foreign domestic help is an option; for others, it is not. Lina Adam, 29, who moved to Penang from Kelantan, said her parents relied on her to make weekly trips to the clinic. “If I worked in KL, I could maybe D̆ RUG D KHOSHU EXW KHUH P\ VDODU\ JRHV to basic costs and to my mother’s travel and medicines. There’s pride in taking FDUH RI IDPLO\ EXW WKHUH¶V DOVR VDFUL¿FH ´ she explained. Workplaces are slowly adapting Employers are starting to recognise that employees need support. Flexible hours, compassionate leave and remote working options can help, but adoption is patchy. A 2025 scoping review by international researchers found that sandwiched care JLYHUV H[SHULHQFH ZRUN±IDPLO\ FRQÀLFW across countries and that workplace policies can reduce stress but must be accompanied by societal support. In Malaysia, some progressive companies of fer caregiver leave or employee assistance SURJUDPPHV EXW VPDOOHU ¿UPV DQG WKH JLJ economy lack them. M RKG 5L]DO D SURMHFW PDQDJHU negotiated a part-time schedule with his employer after his wife’s hip surgery. “My boss understood because I had tenure and could show the plan. But a ju nior colleague I know was refused unpaid leave and had to resign. Not everyone can D̆ RUG WKDW JDPEOH ´ KH VDLG B H\RQG GLUHFW ¿QDQFLDO H[SHQVH FDUH giving exacts a toll on physical and mental health. Studies of caregivers in Malaysia and the region document elevated rates of stress, poorer quality of life and increased risk of chronic illness among those provid ing long-term care. These health risks ULSSOH RXWZDUGV 5HGXFHG SURGXFWLYLW\ DW work, strained relationships and, in some cases, the need for caregivers themselves to seek medical care – creating a feedback ORRS WKDW LQWHQVL¿HV IDPLO\ YXOQHUDELOLW\

landscape analyses and academic studies HPSKDVLVH WKDW SLHFHPHDO ¿[HV ZLOO QRW VẊ FH WKH JURZLQJ HOGHUO\ SRSXODWLRQ demands comprehensive planning. Community initiatives also matter. Local councils and NGOs have piloted day care programmes, dementia sup port groups and telehealth outreach that reduce isolation and give caregivers short reprieves. These models, when scaled and subsidised, can keep families together without forcing impossible choices. A modest ask for the future As Malaysia navigates the demographic transition to an older society, the experi ences of the sandwich generation reveal both resilience and strain. Families are adapting, markets are emerging and pilots are beginning, but the scale of change requires sustained policy attention. For Noreen and Syabil, small steps ZRXOG PDNH D ZRUOG RI GL̆ HUHQFH 6XE sidised respite care, clearer workplace rights for caregivers and community KXEV WKDW R̆ HU SUDFWLFDO KHOS DQG KXPDQ connection. “We don’t need charity. We need systems that respect the labour already done at home. Something that eases the burden,” Noreen added. If policymakers, employers and com PXQLWLHV DFW LQ FRQFHUW WKH VTXHH]H FDQ be softened. Otherwise, more Malaysians PD\ ¿QG WKHPVHOYHV DV 1RUHHQ SXW LW sandwiched, with nowhere to lean.

My son would ask why I was tired and I didn’t have an answer he could understand.”

I want to pursue my studies, but my family needs me. Ambitions and obligations, they both tug hard.”

Syabil

Lina

Small strategies, big relief D HVSLWH WKH SUHVVXUHV PDQ\ IDPLOLHV ¿QG creative coping strategies. Community mutual aid groups, mosque or church volunteer networks and neighbourhood centres can ease the load. Some families rotate responsibilities among siblings; RWKHUV KLUH KHOSHUV IRU VSHFL¿F WDVNV WR preserve family dignity while ensuring continuity of care. “For us, setting a schedule and clear roles helped. My sister handles medi FLQHV DQG UHFRUGV , KDQGOH ¿QDQFHV DQG appointments and my husband books transport. It’s not perfect, but it spreads the burden,” Noreen highlighted. Policy advocates argue for systemic measures: Better pension and savings incentives, publicly funded respite care, caregiver allowances and investment in community-based services to allow ageing in place without overburdening families. What policymakers and communities can do Experts recommend a multi-pronged ap proach. Strengthening primary healthcare for older adults, expanding subsidised home care options and formalising train LQJ DQG FHUWL¿FDWLRQ IRU FDUHJLYHUV ZRXOG professionalise the sector and broaden access. Financial instruments from tar geted subsidies to portable caregiver leave and tax credits could ease immediate pressures while long-term pension reform DGGUHVVHV IXWXUH VXVWDLQDELOLW\ 5HFHQW

What caregiving looks like on the ground Take Syabil Ahmad, 35, who lives in Johor Bahru and works in logistics. His mother, in her late 60s, was diagnosed with early-stage dementia two years ago. Syabil’s wife returned to work after maternity leave, leaving him to split his time between night shifts and day visits to his mother’s apartment. “I patch a routine together – medica tions, doctor’s appointments, school runs for my son. It’s constant triage. There’s guilt when I miss my son’s recital, guilt when my mother falls and I wasn’t there,” he said. Studies of family caregivers in Malaysia UHÀHFW WKLV VWUDLQ 5HVHDUFK SXEOLVKHG LQ SHHU UHYLHZHG MRXUQDOV ¿QGV WKDW PRVW caregivers are women, most of whom are in their 50s. But the sandwich dynamic is widening to include younger adults with dependent children. The emotional and psychological burden – anxiety, depression and sleep disruption shows up repeatedly in academic assessments of caregiver well-being. For urban professionals like Noreen, VROXWLRQV FDQ ORRN GL̆ HUHQW 6KH KLUHG a part-time caregiver through a private agency and leans on her mother-in-law for occasional babysitting, but even with WKRVH PHDVXUHV WKH ¿QDQFLDO RXWOD\ DQG emotional drain persist. “You can pay for someone to change a diaper or administer injections, but you can’t pay away the worry. The paperwork, appointments and bureaucracy are ex hausting,” she said. Cultural expectations and the care economy In Malaysia, the expectation that children will look after their parents is deeply embedded in many communities. Yet cultural norms are colliding with mod ern realities: Dual-income households, smaller families, urban migration and the rising cost of living. These shifts have spurred a burgeoning market for private care services from home nursing and day centres to memory care programmes, but DFFHVV DQG D̆ RUGDELOLW\ UHPDLQ XQHYHQ across regions.

Negotiating flexible hours saved my job and my sanity. Not everyone gets that option.”

Mohd

The experiences of the sandwich

generation reveal both resilience and strain.

Sometimes I fantasise about a week off where I do nothing – not that I don’t love my family, but because my batteries are flat.”

Noreen