Snapshot: FemTech in Malaysia
2024 Overview of the FemTech Landscape in Malaysia
Introduction
Amidst a dynamic socio-cultural context and rapid technological advancement, the intersection of women's health and technology in Malaysia holds great promise. This white paper delivered by FemTech Association Asia in partnership with Milieu Insight endeavours to explore the femtech landscape in Malaysia, providing a glance into the state of women’s healthcare in the country and the local companies driving innovation.
The term "femtech" was coined in 2016 by Ida Tin, the founder of Clue, the menstrual tracking app. As the femtech industry began to gain traction and visibility, there arose a need for a concise term to encapsulate the diverse array of technologies addressing women's health needs from menstrual care to reproductive health, menopause to chronic illness and more. Femtech, or “female technology," emerged as the umbrella term to describe the growing sector focused on leveraging technology to address women's unique health needs.
Overview of Healthcare in Malaysia
Categorised as an upper-middle income country1, Malaysia's healthcare sector is expected to grow to $30 billion by 2027, fueled by increasing demand for healthcare services from an ageing population, rising affluence, and increasing life expectancy2. Leveraging technology is a requirement for scale and reach of the healthcare system to address population health concerns such as the rising burden of chronic diseases, emergence and reemergence of communicable diseases, an ageing population, and increasing healthcare expenditure and costs.
Malaysia provides universal healthcare for all citizens with subsidised treatment costs in public facilities. The CEO of Bloody GoodShop and medical doctor, Hanis Husin, shared that patients pay a small fee of RM1-2 per doctor’s or medical appointment, making healthcare affordable for most people, and that patient's birth experience can cost as low as RM30. Even prescriptions are low cost or free. While healthcare is affordable, there are limitations when it comes to women’s health. For instance, Anna Yamauchi, Founder of Lumirous, the femtech company specialising in fertility counselling and assessment, confirmed that “IVF costs are not covered by the public healthcare system”. The Ministry of Health has identified that “publicly managed health funding from various sources including the Government, individuals and companies needs to be gradually increased to 5% of GDP”3 to make-up for the underinvested healthcare system. Public sector clinics are overstretched - e.g. in 2020, public clinics comprised 28% of total primary healthcare facilities but handled almost 64% of outpatient visits4.
Private healthcare is also available, offering shorter wait times, but at a greater expense. Medical tourism is popular, with only private healthcare providers able to treat overseas patients. In 2019, Malaysia attracted 1.3 million international healthcare tourists, with over 50 percent of these visitors from Indonesia.5
Husin explained that healthcare is accessible, even in rural areas, with government health clinics present every 20-30 kilometres. These smaller clinics are mostly manned by nurse teams and primarily offer antenatal care for mothers and babies. For women’s health specialists or care, patients are referred to the larger public facilities and hospitals. The Ministry of Health plans to increase support of primary health care in the future - including these clinics - with more investment, resources and equipment to alleviate the burden on larger hospitals to deliver transitional care management (e.g. patient management post-treatment).6
For women’s health and femtech in particular, more than 50 percent of women in Malaysia are of the opinion that they lack information on almost all aspects of female health and wellness.7 In addition, “although Malaysia has the fourth-largest industrial market economy in Southeast Asia, many Malaysians see it as a patriarchal society that, for women, cultivates feelings of doubt about their abilities”.8
Figure A: Leading topics on female health and wellness that consumers found difficult to find information for in Malaysia as of February 20229
With the digitalisation of healthcare services as a key focus for the Malaysia government combined with a lack of awareness by the general public about women’s health, femtech is primed to contribute with impact, provided entrepreneurs can find the ecosystem support and the funding they need.
The Femtech Landscape in Malaysia
Malaysia experienced a 500% increase in the number of femtech companies established from 2021 to 2022.10 As of April 2024, there were 15 femtech businesses operating in Malaysia.
Femtech Companies in Malaysia*
Athena Empowers - Reusable menstrual care products
Bloody Goodshop - Reusable silicone menstrual cups and period underwear
Bobble - Organic cotton-based period products
Breeze for You - Menstrual cups
Concevoir - Natural dietary solution for PCOS
Dear Kyra - Telehealth platform providing express delivery of birth control and discreet STD testing
Dr Mommy Baby - App for women health management
Enya - DTC company offering skin-friendly period products made of 100% organic, breathable and hypoallergenic cotton
HappyPreggie - Pregnancy and parenting digital marketplace
IMMERcare Vaginne - Intimate care products
Lumirous - Online platform for fertility support & reproductive health
Mamanet - App offering information and tools for managing pregnancy
MommyDaddy&I - Online health information platform for pregnancy & parenthood
Pistil - Telehealth platform for best care practices, preventive and early detection in female healthcare.
Suci Cup - Menstrual cups
Of the femtech companies in Malaysia, 87% have a woman founder or co-founder and 80% launched in 2019 onwards. Lumirous is the only femtech company to have raised funds from Venture Capital sources and is currently actively engaging the business-to-business (B2B) market.
Image: WOMEN IN TECH ® Global
Anna Yamauchi won the 2023 Women in Tech® Start-Up Award for the 2nd Annual Women in Tech® APAC Awards. Anna is the founder, and CEO of Lumirous. Anna created the first FemTech company in Malaysia with the objective of providing Malaysian women knowledge, counseling and treatment about their reproductive health. Lumirous has collaborated with big brands in Malaysia such as UNIQLO in celebrating women during the Women's Health event in 2022 and has since partnered with more than 10 fertility clinics and centers. Future product growth plans for Lumirous include launching a fertility supplement in just one box.
Menstrual Care
Consistent with most countries around the world, menstrual care is the top femtech category in Malaysia (38% of businesses in the market) with the largest number of businesses addressing solutions for menstrual care.11
Founded by Anja Juliah Abu Bakar, Athena Empowers is a social enterprise that works to combat period poverty. Athena Empowers donated 3,600 pads between 2015 and 2022 and from 202212 onwards distributed 100,000 reusable pads every six weeks to underserved Malaysians13. In 2020, Abu Bakar shared in MalayMail that “15,000 Malaysian girls miss approximately 60 days of school a year due to period poverty. Some of them even drop out of school at 14 or 15 because they don't have the necessary sanitary products to manage their period and they get made fun of when their clothes get stained.”14 Malaysia’s government acknowledges the challenge of menstrual equity - mainly the access of women and girls to menstrual pads - and is taking action. One proposal was from the state government of Perak for instance is for the “implementation of sanitary pad vending machines in public spaces. In addition there were plans to conduct period poverty studies among orang asli women in B40 communities in the state”15 in February 2022.
Image: Athena Empowers Facebook
Menstrual health and care education in Malaysia is imperative for the socio-economic advancement of women. Multinational companies are getting involved. The Kotex #SheCan digital campaign launched in 2018 to champion women’s progress by fighting period stigmas and the barriers they cause by promoting access to education in schools and communities, and helping to open doors and provide funding so women can gain equal opportunities.16 In 2021, the #SheCan Fund made a financial commitment of RM100,000 to sponsor the education of 100,000 secondary school girls in 100 schools to learn the importance of menstrual hygiene, mental health and body positivity; and funded the build of better learning facilities such as e-learning equipment, to provide a higher quality learning environment for the girls. Additionally, high school girls from the participating schools received free sanitary products.17
Academy of Sciences Malaysia Fellow Madeline Berma suggests there is an opportunity to add period poverty indicators - such as the number of girls who skip classes, women and girls’ level of awareness about menstrual hygiene, and the causes and impact of period poverty - to the National Poverty Database system, called eKasih18. This database was developed in 2008 to assist the government of Malaysia to be better able to plan, implement and monitor poverty eradication programs at the national level, and thus, improve the effectiveness of programmes like those combatting period poverty19. Understanding the data behind period poverty allows governments, multinational companies, social enterprises and non-governmental organisations to collaborate to identify families that may require greater support and distribute menstrual care products to women and girls who are in greatest need. On a country-wide level, the Ministry of Health in 2023 announced a priority to integrate digital technologies into the nation's health systems with electronic medical records (EMR) and electronic lifetime health records (ELHR) to be rolled out in stages, containing the individual's health status, medical history and other relevant information.20
Along with activities such as broader distribution to targeted consumer segments and educational programmes about period care, femtech startups which are integrating ESG as a core principle are finding success. Eco-friendly period care brand Bobble registered a 170% rise in revenue from 2021 to 2022, with online sales contributing 70% of the total sales across Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei. It also widened its presence from five retail outlets to more than 30 in 2022.21 Supporting local people and economies, Breeze for You collaborates with TAPAi, a Community Rehabilitation Programme for differently abled artisans in Malaysia, to create hand-sewn drawstring pouches as part of the menstrual cup product packaging. In addition, Breeze for You menstrual cups are 100% made in Malaysia and can last up to 5-10 years.
According to the fermata Femtech Market Map of Southeast Asia 2022, Malaysia and Thailand “held the largest market share for period companies selling organic tampons, organic & reusable sanitary pads, and menstrual cups” in Southeast Asia. Suci Cup, for instance, claims to help each “woman save 1,440 worth of pads/tampons in 10 years or more from going to the landfill”.22
Another underserved area is women's health issues its impact on economic advancement is in the workplace. Menstrual leave is not a common or familiar policy, leaving those suffering from dysmenorrhea, more commonly known as period pain and menstrual cramps, in agony and fearing workplace discrimination if they have a menstrual cycle every month.”23 For reference, one in eight consumers who reach out to Lumirous has PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome), causing hormonal imbalance, irregular and/or longer periods and a range of other symptoms impacting day-to-day life. As of 2023, the labour force participation rate among females in Malaysia is 51.6% and among males is 78%.24 A significant number of professional contributors, women, need to be considered for inclusive employer benefits programmes and corporate policy making.
Reproductive Care
In the Malaysian Journal of Pharmacy study “Contraceptive Awareness, Knowledge and Attitude among Unmarried Young Adults in Malaysia”, young adults cited causes for in unwanted outcomes for sexual activity, such as unwanted pregnancies and sexually-transmitted infections, including: low awareness and lack of the use of contraception, contraceptive method failure, and a high unmet need for contraceptives.25 With “the internet” quoted as the primary source of contraception knowledge, inaccurate or false information could also be on this list. Digitally accessible, professionally-vetted, discreet and trusted sources of information, such as what femtech companies like Pistol provide can be a catalyst for change.
“57% of currently married women aged between 15 to 49 years are using contraceptives of any kind (Trends in Contraceptive Use Worldwide, United Nations Economic & Social Affairs Division), and just over 34% use modern contraceptives. Meanwhile the contraceptive usage rate in 1994 was 54%, which meant that the contraceptive usage rate in Malaysia had stagnated for the last 20 years.” The rate is relatively low as we compare to neighbouring countries such as Thailand (70%) and Vietnam (67%). The 15 to 19 years cohort reported the lowest usage of contraceptives, hence the high incidence of teenage pregnancies.
In Malaysia, the rate of adolescent fertility has remained roughly the same since 2010. The rate in 2021 was lower than the average rate in its income group. Nine of every 1,000 girls ages 15-19 gave birth in Malaysia in 2021.26
The unmet need percentage remains high at 25% and is increasing, resulting in unplanned pregnancies and unwanted births. In a 2014 retrospective study from the reports of the National Population and Family Development Board (NPFDB) and Ministry of Health from 1974 to 2012, it was noted that ‘fear of side effects’ and ‘no reason’ contributed to 35-40% of reasons not using/discontinuing contraceptive methods according to “An insight into low contraceptive prevalence in Malaysia and its probable consequences” by Mohamed Najimudeen, Kanagasabai Sachchithanantham. Overall, the attitude towards contraception is not progressive enough.27
In addition, a rising proportion of married women of reproductive age have opted to stop childbearing at younger ages, coupled by contraceptive services and information that are readily available from government, private clinics and commercial outlets (research by Tey Nai Peng, “Contraceptive Use and Unmet Need for contraception in Peninsular Malaysia.) A number of factors were also attributed – the de-emphasis of information and education programmes, rising incidents of late and non-marriage, and rising age of first birth with consequent reduction of the reproductive span. Husbands’ objections were also cited by some women as a reason for non-contraceptive usage.
In 2017, Federation of Reproductive Health Associations, Malaysia (FRHAM) embarked on a series of trainings for service providers and doctors in both government and private settings. They provided updates on contraceptives technology and introduced Long Acting Reversible Contraceptives (LARC). The overwhelming feedback that we received from the doctors was that they had no knowledge of such new technologies. They are still relying on the conventional modern methods, one that requires regular replacements, such as injections and pills.”28
German multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company Bayer is collaborating with Malaysia’s National Population and Family Development Board to drive awareness and knowledge on the importance of family planning and benefits of contraception use. In the "Choose with Confidence" campaign held in September 2023, qualified women in the low-income family had access to counselling and subsidised contraceptives at selected Nur Sejahtera clinics to help address cost-related barriers to contraception.29
“Young adults require further education to improve their knowledge and attitude towards contraception. As such, healthcare personnel are well placed in their role as community healthcare specialists in playing a vital role in promoting basic contraceptive education. Healthcare professionals should also amplify their roles to reduce misconceptions associated with contraception in order to reduce negative health and social problems in the long run.”30
Femtech companies operating in the Sexual Health category have an opportunity to make social impact, especially among the country’s youths.
The unisex condom brand, Wondaleaf, estimates Malaysia’s addressable market for condoms and wound dressing at an estimated RM2.2 billion.31 Targeting this well-defined, yet untapped market, Founder Dr. John Tang shares that key challenges for their business include fundraising and the expensive cost of clinical trials.
The other side of the market are those who are struggling to conceive. Fertilemate entered the market to address the infertility issue in Malaysia, which the brand estimates to impact 10-15% of couples in the reproductive age bracket of 14-45 years old.32 The mobile app has content, tools and resources that support the fertility journey.
And finally, once the baby is born, there are limited programmes for maternal mental health. In certain cultures, women are not widely aware of Maternal Postnatal Depression (PND) symptoms, so do not view it as an illness. While women globally recognised the obstacles to seeking help, disparities remain in dealing with PND across cultures. Compared to other racial or ethnic groups, Asian women were less likely to discuss professional help when describing their PND experience. Instead, they spoke more on practising self-help and getting social support. Reasons for these cultural variations might be due to the women's belief on whether PND is a maternal mental disorder or not.33
Mama Net Malaysia, is a mobile app building the largest online motherhood community in Southeast Asia with 200k+ Malaysian moms as members. This platform offers content, social connection, resources and e-commerce for mothers, including support for mental wellbeing. Even with information available for mothers, there is a gap in support between motherhood and the career journey. For example, a 2018 survey of 2,600 mothers across Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines found that 75% quit their jobs due to lack of flexibility on issues disproportionately impacting women, such as lactation room and unavailability of child day care.34
Image: Mama Net
In the 1930s, the maternal death rate was at 1,000 per 100,000 Malaysian women. In 2020, it was said to have been lowered to 24.5, but it has not decreased since. Maternal mortality in Malaysia is lower than its regional average.35
According to BMF 89.9 in Malaysia, “there are an estimated 500,000 newborns in Malaysia every year generating RM3.3 billion in maternity-related spending,”36 which is the consumer market Happy Preggie is targeting, with Founder Yoong Poh Joon and his team connecting consumers with parenting-related service providers from antenatal classes to breastfeeding consultation.
Menopause
According to the Ministry of Health of Malaysia’s Health White Paper for Malaysia, Malaysians are living longer. A female baby born in 1970 would live to the age of 65.6 years old on average, and in 2020, a female newborn can expect to live to the age of 77.2 years old on average. By 2030, 15% of the population is expected to be above 60 years old making Malaysia an ‘aged’ society,37 with an estimated 9.5 years of life expectancy spent in poor health due to the incidence of non-communicable and/or chronic diseases.38
A survey conducted by Milieu Insight on female health and wellness in Malaysia in January 2022 found that 33 percent of the respondents found that it was difficult for them to find information regarding menopause.39 “In July 2022, Malaysia launched the Clinical Practice Guidelines of Management of Menopause, which served to aid health providers in the better management of menopausal health clinically.”40
No menopause, hormonal health or ageing-focused femtech companies have launched yet in Malaysia.
Screening & Diagnostics
The Ministry of Health Malaysia encourages screenings among women for early detection of disease and/or health abnormalities, with breast and cervical cancers noted as most common cancers impacting women in Malaysia.41 Even so, three in four women aged 40 and above in Malaysia have never had a mammogram, noting breast cancer is one of the leading causes of death for women in the country.
“In 2010, Malaysia conducted an ongoing national HPV (human papillomavirus) immunisation programme for female students over 13 years old, eliminating the risk of cervical cancer.”42 The government provided free HPV immunisation in 2019.43
In the case of cervical cancer caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV) among women, a study to gauge the awareness of HPV among university students showed that there was a low level of knowledge about HPV vaccination and cervical cancer. Only about 30% of non-medical faculty students were knowledgeable about the matter and that HPV was cancer related. Femtech startup Pistol is reimagining “healthcare for her”, leading with telehealth to serve all women in Malaysia across urban and rural locations. Pistol’s Founder, Rina Ho, shared that her first step is to drive awareness and educate the market with localised content. Ho shared that in a City Centre Consensus Survey asking “What is HPV?” - the most common sexually-transmitted infection that can cause genital warts and cancers - only 20-25% of people said it was “cancer-related”. This demonstrates that increased health education is the starting point for femtech companies in Malaysia.
“In Malaysia, 97% of more than 100,000 registered nurses are female. Despite this, awareness about certain diseases that affect women, such as breast cancer, HPV infections and period pains or menstrual cramps, remains low. Men, on the other hand, dominate high-paying leadership positions as physicians and surgeons. Consequently, the lack of women's representation in leadership positions in healthcare could explain the lack of communal awareness of women's health. However, the National Health and Morbidity Survey carried out in 2019 showed that the breast screening rate was extremely low.
Even without the reach of women’s health awareness and education, Malaysia supports women’s clinics in every state, offering free or subsidised pap smears, STD screenings and other services according to Chris Teo, Co-Founder of Enya, the 100% rash-free, toxin-free & fragrance free menstrual care brand.
Women’s Health Inclusivity
With strong leadership and a voice for change, Her Royal Highness, Raja Permaisuri of Perak Tuanku Zara Salim said “the efforts must encompass the availability of early screening and detection for preventable diseases, particularly for women in remote regions in the country.” Key Opinion Leaders joined together in October 2022 at the first All-Women Healthcare Symposium organised by Gleneagles Hospital Medini Johor. This event discussed issues such as menstrual health, domestic violence, chronic pelvic pain, obstetrics and gynaecology and unplanned pregnancy - including discussion about stigma and taboo topics.44
To date, the term “femtech” has not been used in the media regularly and Malaysia’s femtech companies have had very limited coverage in the country’s media, though there have been a highlights such as Dear Kyra and HappyPreggie being included on the Digital Edge, The Edge Malaysia45 “24 in 2024” tech start-ups anticipated to make great impact in 2024 - though the companies were listed under the “Healthcare” industry, not “femtech/women’s health” specifically.
Image: The Edge Malaysia
Also worth noting on the Digital Edge, The Edge Malaysia “24 in 2024” list is CS Leaflabs, a company specialising in natural health supplements and hormonal-based products to aid both men and women in maintaining fertility and well-being.46 CS Leaflabs developed the Fertilemate mobile app, which uses artificial intelligence to provide comprehensive reproductive health support and guidance, in collaboration with University Putra Malaysia,47 and Feminira, which looks to address PCOS symptoms by balancing hormones, regulating period cycles, managing weight and more.48
Ecosystem Partners
While there are no femtech specific accelerators or incubators in Malaysia, but femtech companies are starting to engage in general entrepreneur or healthtech programmes:
In collaboration with Vincaps Capital and Big Domain, Penang Youth Development Corporation (PYDC) launched the Penang Start-up Accelerator Program for 18-35 year old Malaysian entrepreneurs in February 2022. Dear Kyra was in the top three companies in the six-month virtual programme, which offered “mentorship, market access, funding, technical and legal” workshops and seminars.49
In 2023, AirAsia Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Capital A Berhad, supported local social enterprises in creating sustainable and thriving urban communities through a special event called the ‘City Catalysts’. Athena Empowers took part in this curated event for social entrepreneurs to showcase their products and services, with a series of workshops and talks fostering sustainable development and community empowerment in urban spaces.50
CS Leaflabs benefitted from MRANTI GAP (Global Accelerator Programme), which aims to create a high-tech Malaysia nation, through policy development and innovation support. Through its six-month programme, MRANTI GAP has guided 542 startups through its bootcamp/pre-accelerator and accelerator programmes.
With women’s health under-represented in the business community, femtech can support change for consumers in need of care through available, accessible and affordable healthcare solutions. In 2023, the Ministry of Health confirmed that “new approaches to resource allocation, planning and monitoring will be put in place in order to ensure vulnerable groups receive sufficient healthcare and systemic inequalities in health are addressed. Policy and operational review will be undertaken in order to strengthen access and quality of care for vulnerable groups. Current platforms and pathways for coordination with relevant ministries and community groups will also be strengthened towards addressing the health needs of the vulnerable and marginalised groups.”51
Investment
Alongside consumer education and ecosystem inclusivity, in order to encourage growth, the femtech industry in Malaysia requires funding. Five femtech startups in Malaysia have received funding:
BloodyGoodshop (Undisclosed; Acquisition)
DearKyra (Undisclosed; Penang Startup Accelerator Programme 2022 and SAP 2023)
Enya (USD500K Seed; Family/Friends & Angels)
HappyPreggie (RM3.57 million; Cyberview Living Lab Accelerator (CLLA) programme 2023)
Luminous (Undisclosed Seed; Angels & VCs)
Image: Bloody Goodshop Instagram
Conclusion
The burgeoning field of Femtech presents a promising avenue for addressing women's healthcare needs in Malaysia. For femtech entrepreneurs, this country provides a blue ocean to launch a femtech business with notable category gaps such as a lack of companies operating in the sexual health, menopause and chronic illness spaces.
Through innovative technological solutions, femtech has the potential to revolutionise access to healthcare services and empower women with knowledge about their bodies. Moving forward, collaborative efforts between the government, policymakers, healthcare providers, femtech founders, and community stakeholders will be essential to harnessing the full potential of femtech and to accelerate innovation in women's health in Malaysia.
Research Limitations
This research was conducted between January and May 2024. Interviews were conducted with femtech founders in Malaysia in English language only. The data set is limited given the low number of femtech companies in Southeast Asia is compared to other regions. Femtech business categories included in this research have been limited to those that strictly impact the health of women either directly or disproportionately.
With limited women’s health research conducted globally in the past and limited long-term data collected, it is difficult to accurately quantify Malaysia’s femtech market value.
This white paper does not distinguish the refugee population in Malaysia, but it is important to highlight a segment of women living in the country who may not have sufficient access to healthcare. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in 2019, the maternal mortality rate among refugees in Malaysia was estimated to be 62 per 100,000 live births, which is significantly higher than the national average.”52 Malaysia is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention and does not have domestic laws recognising and protecting refugees. This means that refugees do not have legal status in the country, which limits their access to healthcare, work and education. This is set to change as outlined in the Ministry of Health - Health White Paper for Malaysia.
FemTech Association Asia and Milieu Insight have established a baseline for femtech Southeast Asia consumer research in our 2024 report titled "Insights into the Femtech Landscape in Southeast Asia". Please visit www.femtechassociation.com or contact info@femtechassociation for more information or to purchase your copy of the report.
About Milieu Insight:
Milieu Insight is Southeast Asia’s award-winning market research and data analytics company helping businesses thrive in a data-driven world of rapid change, where the need for reliable, quick information to make strategic decisions has never been greater. Milieu Insight believes in the transformative power of going beyond insights, driven by a passion to understand people - how they think, feel and act.
www.mili.eu/sg
About FemTech Association Asia:
Founded in October 2021, FemTech Association Asia is the region’s first and largest specialist advisory and industry network for founders, professionals, investors and enthusiasts focused on improving women’s health through technology solutions. This award-nominated organisation currently represents over 75 FemTech companies across nine countries in Asia.
www.femtechassociation.com
Source: Health Facts (2021), National Health and Morbidity Survey (2019).
https://sg.hellofermata.com/blogs/blog/femtech-market-map-of-southeast-asia-2022
*BabyBaru, the online platform offering maternal consultation services with lactation consultants, has closed. In addition, a few brands that fall under a broader range of companies, such as CS Leaflabs’ Feminira & Fertilemate and Wondaleaf are not included on this list as these businesses are not solely-focused on women’s health.
Examples of other femtech categories: fertility, menopause, sexual health, pelvic floor health, etc.
N.B. "Orang asli describes the heterogeneous indigenous minority population and the oldest inhabitants of Peninsular Malaysia; “B40” describes the bottom 40% of households in Malaysia with an income of below RM 4,850.
Nik Norliati F, Suriati G (2021). Malaysia towards an ageing society. Malaysia Journal of Society and Space.
Social Inequalities and Health in Malaysia: The State of Households 2020 Part III. Khazanah Research Institute. (2020)