From Colonialism to Ultranationalism: History and Development of Career Counseling in Malaysia

Abstract

This article documents the development of career counseling in Malaysia from 1957—when the British colonizers departed—to 2000. Although counseling, psychology, and psychiatry had their roots in mental health and medical environments, career counseling had its origins in the system of schooling and has now spread widely to business and industry. This article presents information on the historic and economic context of the development of career counseling, an exploration of the educational system from which career counseling was born, the cultural elements that have formed career counseling in the Malaysian context, and the application of M. Pope's (1995, 2000) stage development model to the development of career counseling in the Malaysian context.

Barriers and challenges in the practice of multicultural counselling in Malaysia: A qualitative interview study

“…In view of the religious and racial/ethnic diversity in Malaysia, it seems that the development of a truly "Malaysian" counselling approach would not be possible (Scorzelli, 1987), but this view seems premature and more recent developments such as those reported in Moodley, Rai, and Alladin (2010) have yet to filter through to Malaysian counsellors. However, dealing with the current Malaysian situation, most experts believe that counsellors trained in Western countries must be able to adapt the theories, skills and Counselling Psychology Quarterly 175 techniques to suit the social and cultural norms of their clients (Ismail & Othman, 2001;Othman & Aboo Bakar, 1993;Pope, Musa, Singaravelu, Bringaze, & Russell, 2002). However, it is necessary to determine what is working or useful in these Western models for Malaysian clients and what is not working and needs to be modified.…”

Counseling in Malaysia: History, Current Status, and Future Trends

“…Globalization and competition from China have resulted in much economic insecurity (Shari, 2003). The Malaysian society is also experiencing many social changes and challenges, such as increased urban migration, aging of the population, rising divorce rate, family structure transformation, and illegal immigration (Phua, n.d.;Pope et al, 2002).…”

Career counseling centers in higher education: A study of cross-cultural applications from the United States to Korea

“…Similar to the development of career counseling services in other Asian countries (e.g., Chang, 2002;Leung, 2002;Pope et al, 2002;Salazar-Clemeña, 2002;Tan, 2002;Tatsuno, 2002;Zhang, Hu, & Pope, 2002), importing western career development theories to Korea with minimal assimilation or accommodation or with minor changes is relatively convenient. Nevertheless, we should always persist in the task of investigating the impact of career counseling practices on economies, on cultural and national identity, on educational systems, and the socio-political fabric of nations.…”