Seven days paternity leave is not enough, say experts and dads

Malaysia, said Noraida, is not fully prepared to provide more equal leave for both parents due to the outdated mindset of gender roles and childcare, where men are the breadwinners while women are expected to take full responsibility for childcare and child-rearing. Photo: Unsplash/Dragon Pan

When his son was born 10 weeks ahead of schedule in 2014, necessitating him to be in an incubator for some time, Mohd Izad Misri became the tiny infant’s whole world for almost two months.

The IT worker was the parent who touched and comforted the baby boy every day, bringing frozen breast milk to sustain him until his mother had recovered enough to visit him.