Malaysia, a middle income country is a federation of 13 states and three federal territories. The country is one of the vibrant south-east Asian economy, with a diverse, multi-ethnic, multi-
religious, and multi-cultural society. The Malays are the major ethnic group (67.4%), followed by the Chinese (24.6%), Indian (7.3%) and others (0.7%) (Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development, no year). Malaysia’s population stands at 29.3 million in 2012 (Department of Statistics [DoS] Malaysia, 2012a). The average annual population growth rate has declined markedly during 1980-1981 to 1991-2000, from 2.7% to 2.1%. It is projected that population will increase to 32.4 million in 2020 (DoS Malaysia, 2012b).
In 2012, the female population comprised 14.2 million (51.5%) and the male population comprised 15.1 million (51.5%) (Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development, 2013). Life expectancy at birth for men and women in 2012 was measured at 72.3 and 77.2 years old, respectively (DoS Malaysia, 2012a). In 2012, the young population constituted about 26.4% of the total population and this is expected to decline to 24% in 2020 (DoS Malaysia, 2012a). For the aging population, it will increase from 5.3% in 2012 to 6.8% in 2020 (DoS Malaysia, 2012a). The proportion of working age population (15-64 years old) is increasing steadily from 63.3% in 2006 to 68.3% in 2012, indicating that Malaysia is still benefiting from the demographic dividend