DOCUMENT RESUME ED 363 432 PS 021 874 AUTHOR Chiam, Heng Keng, Ed. TITLE Securing Our -7uture. Proceedings of the Conference on Children--Our Future (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, November 19-21, 1991). INSTITUTION Malaya Univ., Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia). REPORT NO ISBN-983-9705-40-7 PUB DATE 93 NOTE 314p. AVAILABLE FROMChild Development Centre, Faculty of Education, University of Malaya, Lembah Pantai, 59100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia ($25, plus shipping). PUB TYPE Books (010) Collected Works Conference Proceedings (021) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC13 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Child Development; Child Health; *Cognitive Development; Day Care Effects; Early Childhood Education; *Emotional Development; Family Environment; Foreign Countries; *Language Acquisition; Nutrition; Parent Participation; *Physical Development; Preschool Children; Research Design; *Social Development; *Young Children IDENTIFIERS *Malaysia ABSTRACT These proceedings report the results of 10 years of ongoing research by the Malaysian Child Development Project to develop and implement measures to study the cognitive, language, and socioemotional development of Malaysian preschool children. Part 1 of the report contains opening speeches delivered by conference organizers and dignitaries. Part 2 presents 16 papers delivered at the conference. They are:(1) "Physical Development: Present Status and Future Objectives" (J. 0. Forfar);(2) "Physical Growth" (Chen Siew Tin);(3) "Sanitation and Child Development" (K. Chandra Sekhar);(4) "Nutrition and Child Development" (Ong Kah Guan and Prabha Joginder Singh);(5) "Cognitive Development of Preschool Children" (Chiam Heng Keng);(6) "Language Development--A Process of Children's Creative Construction" (Fatimah Haron); (7) "Socio-Emotional Development of Preschool Children" (Leonard Young); (8) "Parental Involvement in Promoting Physical Growth and Development of Children" (Wong Mee Lan);(9) "Parental Involvement in Children's Psychological Development" (Khoo Kim Choo);(10) "The Child, Health, and Child Care" (Khairuddin Yulcf); (11) "Psychological Development In Child Care Centre" (Chiam Heng Keng); (12) "Children in Plantations" (A. Navamukundan); (13) "Maternal Employment and Child Care" (Tey Nai Peng); (14) "Physical Environment and Child Development" (Cheng Yin Mooi);(15) "Psychological Environment and Child Development" (Chiam Heng Keng); and (16) "Ecology of Young Child Nutrition in Malaysia" (Mirnalini Kandiah). Part 3 contains the reports of five workshops on, respectively, child care centers, maternal employment and child development, physical environment and child development, psychological environment and child development, and nutrition and child development. Two appendixes list the organizing committee and the conference program. (MDM) U S DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Otr E ducabonni Rpsearr h and Imp,o,prr en/ E DUCATIONAT RE SOURCESINFORMATION I. ENTER 'ERIC 1,41/.1,9 document has tyeen rep,a0ured reoved tram the person or orgamtairdn dh9rnalmg I_ Mind, changes have Se en made Intrrsprol,e reprodt,Choh hudhty Pows Of v,ew OS ODin Ons slalel al thisdot, men! clo nOt neCessaply representoffrOa. OERI positron or 00Itcy + PERMISSION TO REPRODUCETHIS MATERIAL HAS BEENGRANTED BY GN TO THE EDUCA TIONALRESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER IERICI 1111r3!'t4 OUR FUTUR ft < PROCEEDINGS OF THECONFERENCEa C REN - OUR FUTURE Organised by ChildDevelopment Centre & Faculty of Medicine,University of Malaya 19 - 21, November1991 ,. rir) BEST COPY AVAILABLE 2 , , , SECURING OUR FUTURE Proceedings of the Conference on Children- Our Future Organised by Child Development Centre & Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya 19-21, November 1991 Edited by: Chiam Heng Keng 3 , , Published by Child Development Centre University of Malaya With the Support of Friedrich Ebert Stiftung. All Rights Reserved. 0 Copyright 1993 Chiam Heng Keng. ISB N 983-9705-40-7 Printed in Malaysia by Percetakan Tenaga Sdn Bhd, Kuala Lumpur. 4 Contents Acknowledgement Editor's Note iii PART ONE COVERING SPEECHES Opening Address of the Organising Chairman 3 Ucapan Timbalan Naib-Canselor 7 Ucapan YB Timbalan Menteri Pendidil an 9 Closing Address of the Chairman of the University Hospital Board ....13 PART TWO PAPERS PRESENTED Physical Development: Present Status and Future Objectives 19 J. 0. Forfar Physical Growth 33 Chen Siew Tin Sanitation and Child Development 73 K. Chandra Sekhar Nutrition and Child Development 103 Ong Kah Guan & Prabha Joginder Singh Cognitive Development of Preschool Children 141 Chiam Heng Keng Language Development - A Process of Children's Creative Construction 165 Fatirnah Haron Socio-emotional Development of Preschool Childrui 179 Leonard Yong Parental Involvement in Promoting Physical Growth and Development of Children 193 Wong Mee Lan 5 Parental Involvement in Children's Psychological Development 201 Khoo Kim Chop The Child, Health and Child Care 213 Khairuddin Yusof Psychological Development in Child Care Centre 225 Chiam Heng Keng Children in Plantations 247 A. Navamukundan Maternal Employment and Child Care 251 Tey Nai Peng Physical Environment and Child Development 257 Cheng Yin Mooi Psychological Environment and Child Development 267 Chiarn Heng Keng Ecology of Young Child Nutrition in Malaysia 275 Mirnalini Kandiah PART THREE WORKSHOP REPORTS Workshop I: Child Care Centres in Estates 289 Workshop II: Maternal Employment and Child Development 291 Workshop III: Physical Environment and Child Development 293 Workshop IV: Psychological Environment and Child Development 295 Workshop V: Nutrition and Child Development 303 6 , SA APPENDIX Organising Committee 309 t Programme 311 Acknowledgements The Organising Committee would like to express their deep gratitude to the many individuals, institutions and organizations who have helped tomake this Conference possible. We wish to thank Yang Berhormat Dr Fong Chan Onn for officiating the Opening Ceremony of the Conference on behalf of his Minister, Yang Berhormat Datuk Amar Dr Sulaiman Daud and launching the book, Child Development: Preschool Children. Our grateful thanks to Yang Amat Berbahagia Toh Puan Datin Hajjah Dr Aishah Ong for closing the Conference and chairing the final session. We are indebted to the Bernard van Leer Foundation for sponsoring the Malaysian Child Development Project and being the main sponsor of the Conference. We are also indebted to our other sponsors, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, Nestle (M) Sdn. Bhd., The British Council, Malaysian Airline System and MBE Education Group Sdn. Bhd. Our special thanks to Friedrich Ebert Stiftung for sponsoring the publication of this Proceeding. Our thanks to the Vice-Chancellor, Yang Berbahagia Dr Mohd Taib Osman, for his encouragement and moral support and to Associate Professor Othman bin Mohd Noor, Deputy Vice-Chancellor for representing the Vice-Chancellor at the opening ceremony. Our gratitude to the Dean of the Faculty of Education and Faculty of Medi- cine for their encouragement and support. Our thanks to the Heads of De- partment of Pedagogy and Educational Psychology, Paediatrics, Parasitology, and Social and Preventive Medicine for their support and encouragement. 8 iiSecuring Our luture We are also grateful to all the Speakers, Resource Persons and Chairper- sons; without their contribution the Conference would not have been possible. Our thanks are also due to Mr Michael Tang for his advice On the poster design and other creative matters as well as to Ms Yap Yee Men of Ogilvy & Mather (M'sia) Sdn. Bhd. for the design of the poster, souvenir programme and logo. We owe much to the University of Malaya and individuals from the vari- ous faculties and departments for their co-operation and support. The Organ- ising Committee is unable to name each and every individual who has con- tributed to the Conference. We thank them all. 9 Editor's Note This Conference, Children - Our Future, is, as one of the leading newspapers in Malaysia so rightly puts it, the grand finale to a 10-year study. The re- searchers of the Malaysian Child Development Project (MCDS) spent five years in designing, constructing, testing and validating the instruments for measuring children's cognitive, language and socioemotional deve:opment, and five years in studying the development of preschool children. Many hu- man hours had been put into this study as, every year for the last four years, at least seven lecturers from the Faculty of Education and the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Malaya and fifty research assistants, not count- ing the technicians, were out on the fields to measure the physical, intellectual, language and socioemotional development of children of three to six years of age. This study looks at children's development from the psychological, medi- cal and educational perspectives and it is both a longitudinal and a cross- sectional study. Even in developed countries, a study of this scope and magnitude is rare. Hence, it is not unexpected that the researchers of MCDS are eager to share the wealth of information which they have collected with other Maiaysians and their Asean neighbours. The Conference was organised with the following objectives: 1.To examine the status of physical and psychological development of cul- turally advantaged and deprived children; 2.To examine the contribution of heredity and environment to children's de- velopment; ,3.To propose strategies for the development of children. iv Securing ()ur I uture The researchers of MCDS felt that it would be better to discuss children's development in a wider context so that they,