ABSTRACT
The housekeeping problems of the Malay fisherman’s wife therefore present themselves to her mainly as financial ones. Most of the fishermen belong to a boat group and to a net group, and the fish catches are usually sold en bloc to a fisher dealer on credit, the proceeds being divided at the end of the week, according to an elaborate system by which each factor, crew member, boat owner, skilled diver and so on gets a definite proportion. Partial adoption, or the looking after of children by friends or relatives without financial remuneration to either party, is distinct from buying children. Malays never sell their own children. The care of a child is not regarded as a net liability from the economic point of view, however. Many people have said to the author , what would they do without a child to help in the house, carrying water, gutting fish and a host of minor duties.
