Dr Djamour spent two years in Singapore, both in the city and in a Malay fishing village, and her first-hand account draws a lively and sympathetic picture of behaviour within the family and between kinsmen. It is nonetheless an important contribution to social anthropology and discusses, as its central topic, the instability of Malay marriage. The causes and consequences of this phenomenon, which involve social, economic, and psychological considerations, are analysed in some detail. The social picture which emerges has wide validity throughout the country and should prove of value to all who seek a fuller knowledge of Malay society.
