Culture

Malaysia began as a region originally inhabited by aboriginal people until settlers arrived from China, India, and Javanese people (Malaysia: History). Then the rulers of Malaysia converted to Islam and began trade with Muslim merchants eventually spreading Islam across the country (Malaysia: History). The peninsula was then taken over by the Dutch for a period and the British afterwards because of its utility as a trading port (Malaysia: History). Later on workers from China and India immigrated to work in tin mines and rubber plantations, changing the trade outpost into a commodity producer (Malaysia: History). During the development of the communist party in China, Malaysia began to develop its own communist party which started rebellion against colonial rule (Malaysia: History). Then for over a decade a struggle for power between British, Japanese, and the Malayan Communist Party developed that ended with the union of the 11 peninsular states and then on to a general election that was won by the Malayan Chinese Association and the Malayan Indian Congress but still under United Kingdom rule (Malaysia: History). A year later the Malaysian government and the United Kingdom Heads agreed that Malaysia should have their own independence which then started a clash between the various ethnic groups that ended 14 years later with government officials that would look out for Malay people, the larger portion of the population that has been mistreated up until now (Malaysia: History). Within the last two decades there has been continued religious struggle for creating Islamic states within peninsula states that make up Malaysia (Malaysia: History)

The current culture of Malaysia is formed by Malay elite that control the country’s politics and a middle class the majority of which are Chinese that drives Malaysia to be a consumer society (Malaysia). Many languages are also spoken in Malaysia as addressed by their television programs including English, Malay, Mandarin, and Tamil (Malaysia). Even with the mixture of multiple ethnic groups, Islam is the largest religion with political actions made to maintain it (Malaysia). Depending on Lynn’s ethnicity she would be treated differently growing up in Malaysia (Malaysia). Malay people were the favored group in society and given preferential treatment with promoted enrollment in education, lower mortgage rates, and hawker licenses that factor ethnicity. In terms of gender, males are favored in society with laws that favor men relating to guardianship over children (Malaysia). Politics are also mostly comprised of men with a slow inclusion of women into political power (Malaysia). In wealthier families both the man and woman work outside of the home and maid work goes to female foreigners (Malaysia). Women work could range anywhere from maid service operating common household cleaning appliances to assembly line worker on or around sophisticated machinery to political jobs that use office and communication devices (Malaysia).

In the 1970s and 80s the Malaysian government recognized the inequality between men and women and took steps to close that gap by improving healthcare and education in the country. It worked, as of 2010 there were more women enrolled in university than males (Narrowing the Gender Gap in Malaysia). Due to this investment early on, Malaysian society has been able to change the workforce and politics into an inclusive atmosphere; however, there are still very few women in politics, less than 11% of either parliament or legislature, or the technology sector, less than 30% (Narrowing the Gender Gap in Malaysia). There was very little information on Lynn’s childhood, so I can only speculate on what drove her to become a chemical engineering professor in the United States. It could either be the more inclusive society of Malaysia trying to reduce the gender gap or it could also be religious opposition that drove her away from Malaysia and towards a country with less religious involvement (Narrowing the Gender Gap in Malaysia).