ABSTRACT
The decline ofadat perpateh as a political system may therefore be expected to alter the balance between kin and domestic groupings in favour of the latter. The nuclear family of husband, wife and dependent children is the most common form of domestic grouping, and also the major social unit in day-to-day living. People continually refer to the notion of paying debts to one’s children. These debts are the duty of all Muslim parents to arrange for the religious education, circumcision, and marriage of their children. Wage earning outside the village has long been common in Negri Sembilan. The Emergency enormously increased the opportunities for wage employment and now a very large proportion of young men, and their families, are living outside the village. The attributes stressed as desirable for a successful marriage relate to the abibty of the couple to cooperate successfully in the division of labour by sexes.
