The Institute of Asian Studies at Universiti Brunei Darussalam is pleased to announce the publication of IAS Working Paper No 48: Ageing and Malay Muslim Women in Brunei by Izzati Jaidin. Please see below for details.

Abstract: This paper examines women (gender), Muslims (Orient), and the elderly (age) from a postcolonial perspective. It highlights the relevance of spirituality to ageing, which is currently under-studied in sociology. Ten Brunei Malay Muslim women aged 60 – 76 were interviewed, with the aid of the photo-elicitation method, about their experience of ageing. All interviewees perceive ageing as a gift from God and should be embraced wholeheartedly but this is not necessarily translated into practice. Nonetheless, spirituality remains prominent and heightened as one grows older. This study also demonstrated how these women’s ageing experience is mediated by structural influences. They include ongoing Islamisation discourse, strong Malay cultural and Islamic values, the interdependence of family structure (social expectation of filial piety), and social rapport and network. Their experiences reveal a nuanced understanding and diverse narratives of ageing. These findings open up new possibilities of understanding ageing in non-Western contexts.

Author: Izzati Jaidin is an alumnus of Universiti Brunei Darussalam, having graduated with a BA in Sociology-Anthropology in 2015. She completed her postgraduate studies (MA Culture, Society and Globalisation) at the University of York in the United Kingdom in 2016. This paper is part of her M.A. dissertation.

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