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International Journal of Child Care and Education Policy

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Article Open Access Published: 20 February 2015

Child Care in Malaysia: Then and Now

Heng Keng Chiam

International Journal of Child Care and Education Policy 2, 31–

41(2008)
15k Accesses 4 Citations 14 Altmetric Metrics

Abstract

Child care services in Malaysia are instituted so that

women can partake in the labour force. The Child Care
Centre Act 1984 sets minimal standards and regulations.
Possibly due to this minimum requirement, child care is
seen as custodian care by the Government and parents.
Changes in attitude and quality of care seem to be
taking place. The Social Welfare Department with the
cooperation of the Skill Development Department,
Ministry of Human Resources, has drawn up the
Standard Practice and Standard Content for child care
providers in accordance with the National Occupation
Skill Standard. This programme provides career
pathways for child care providers. The Early Child Care
and Development Policy is being finalized and the
Quality Improvement and Accreditation System is ready
but has yet to be implemented. In addition, the Deputy
Prime Minister’s wife has initiated an early childhood
programme, known as Permata Negara, which promotes
holistic development of the child.
The importance of the first five years of a child’s life has
long been acknowledged by psychologists who term this
period as the formative years. Recognizing the impact
the child’s experiences have on his or her development,
psychologists, such as Edward Zigler who is known as
the Father of Head Start, have advocated passionately
for quality early childhood care and education.
Numerous research findings, including those of RAND
(Karoly et al., 1998), Myers (1990) and those carried out
to study the impact of the Head Start programme (such
as, Love et al., 2005; U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services, 2003; Zigler & Styfco, 1994), have
disclosed the positive effects of quality early childhood
care and education on children’s development as well as
cost savings in terms of lower crime rate, lower dropout
rate, and lower need for remedial measures. In spite of
the research findings and advocacy for quality early child
care and education, many governments, communities,
and parents are not convinced of its importance. To
many of them, child care is a service to enable parents
with young children to work. If the child care service
provides an environment for children to grow and
develop, it is a bonus and not an obligatory requirement.

In the last decade, findings of neuroscience research

show that the experiences of a child during the early
years, especially the first three years of life, are extremely
important. Not only is brain development more rapid
and extensive than we previously realized, it is also much
more vulnerable to environmental influences than we
ever suspected (Carnegie Corporation, 1994). Research
findings have indicated that interactions with other
people and objects are vital nutrients for the growing
and developing brain, and different experiences can
cause the brain to develop in different ways (Zero to
Three, 2000). Quality child care helps the brain develop
well but if child care does not provide stimulating,
developmentally appropriate experiences and/or does
not meet the child’s needs (such as his or her cries for
food and comfort are ignored or not lovingly answered)
then brain development is compromised. In severe cases,
such as abuse and neglect, a genetically normal child can
become mentally disabled or develop serious emotional
disorders. Unfortunately not many policy makers,
parents, educationalists, and child care providers in
Malaysia are cognizant of these neuroscience findings.

Child Care in the Early Days

Early Child Care and Education in Malaysia comes under

two ministries — the Ministry of Women, Family and
Community Development and the Ministry of
Education.1 Child care for children of 4 years of age and
below is under the former ministry and
kindergarten/preschool for 5–6 year-old children under
the latter ministry. While kindergartens were set up by
churches in the 1950s, child care services were available
only in late 1970s when, by then, more than 31% of the
women were working and extended families, for one
reason or another, could not assist with the care of
children. Rural-urban migration was one of the reasons.

Institutional child care, known then as nurseries, were set

up mainly by primary teachers trained in Brinsford
(England) and British-trained nurses for professional
parents in urban areas. Child care services were also
offered by home-based operators who offered their
services in their homes without making many alterations
to accommodate young children’s needs. The third type
of child care services were services provided the estate
management as stipulated by the Workers’ Minimum
Standards of Housing and Amenities Act 1990 (Act 446).

State of Child Care

Mindful of the increasing numbers of homes with both
parents in the workforce, as well as the reduced
availability of extended family caregivers, increasing
complaints of malpractice in child care centres, and the
importance of child welfare in the formative years, the
Ministry of Welfare Services agreed to initiate a survey,
funded by UNICEF. The UNICEF survey, which was
conducted by three local consultants, provided an
overview of the service, assessed standards of care, and
made policy recommendations for improving the quality
of child care in Malysia

The findings of this survey disclosed that the quality of

child care services available in Malaysia was far from
satisfactory (Ministry of Social Welfare Services, 1983;
Yusof, Wong, Ooi & Hamid-Don, 1987). There were no
pre-established standards and regulations concerning
the premise and management of child care centres.
Generally, the child care centre premise was poorly
designed, was unhealthy, and unsafe for young children.
The vast majority of the child care providers had little or
no education and they were not trained as child care
providers. Only 1% had university or professional
qualifications but not in the area of early child care and
education. Expectedly, the great majority of them,
especially those in the estates, were child-minding rather
than providing a stimulating environment for children to
grow intellectually, socially, and emotionally. The ratio of
child care provider to children varied widely, ranging
from one child to as many as 325 children per child care
worker.

Child Care Centre Act 1984

Realizing the need for setting minimal standards and
regulations for child care services following the report on
the survey on child care (Ministry of Social Welfare
Services, 1983), the government passed the Child Care
Centre Act (Act 308) in 1984. This Act required
institution-based child care centres to register, but not
home-based child care centres which could receive up to
nine children. This Act also did not cover estate child
care centres which was under the Ministry of Human
Resources. Among others, the Director-General of Social
Welfare was empowered by the Act to ensure the health
and well-being of children and staff while the Minister
was given the power to make regulations pertaining to,
for instance, registration, qualification, issuing certificates
of child minders, and health and nutrition care of the
children in the centre.

Training of Child Care Providers

Another outcome of the survey was the Alternative Child
Care Project (1984–1992) funded by Bernard van Leer
Foundation. One of the main objectives of this project
was to develop materials for the training of child care
providers (termed then as child minders) and to train
those working or preparing for work in institution-based
child care centres as required by the Child Care Centre
Regulations 1984. The first course was conducted in
August 1986.

This training package, mandated as the Basic Child Care

Course in the Child Care Centre (Amendment)
Regulations 1993, is a 103-hour course with 31 modules
which is to be conducted within 17–19 days. The Course
imparts an elementary knowledge of child development,
child care (such as activities for children, healthcare, and
safety measures) and administration. The Regulations
requires all those who want to work in institution-based
child care centres to take this course accredited by the
Department of Social Welfare even though they have a
degree or diploma in early childhood education or its
related fields.

A module for trainers of trainers (TOT) was also

developed almost at the same time as the Basic Child
Care Course. This training of trainers was deemed
necessary because if all child minders were to take the
course, many trainers would be needed. This TOT
programme was first conducted by the Department of
Social Welfare which was then the Ministry of Social
Works to practicing child care providers in 1988.

Current Status of Child Care

Overview of the Current Status

It is more than 20 years since the passing of the Child
Care Centre Act in 1984 whose main objective was to set
minimal standards and requirements for child care
services. Owing to the advancement made in
communication technology, today’s parents are better
informed and are cognizant of the importance of the
early years of a child’s life. Logically, one would expect
parents to demand for quality child care for their
children. Except for a small minority, parents are
generally not too concerned about the quality of early
child care. They are satisfied if the custodian care is
good, that is, the child care providers are taking good
care of their child’s physical needs, health, and safety.
Neither are child care providers driven to strive for
higher qualifycations and professionalism, and the
government is satisfied to do the minimum in raising the
bar on the quality of child care. Hence, the amendments
to the Child Care Centre Act 1984 hardly provide for the
promotion and delivery of quality child care (Child Care
Centre Act 1984 Amendment — Act 1285/2007). The
amendments are more for administrative purposes than
for the assertion of quality child care as they include the
increase in categories of child care centres — from two
to four (which are home-, work place-, community- and
institution-based child care centres); the licence to
operate a child care centre which is to be issued for 60
calendar months instead of 12; and the display of the
licence in a conspicuous place in the premise. The
qualification of the child care provider is still the Basic
Child Care Course with hardly any changes to the
training modules that were developed in the 1980s. The
only improvement in child care standards is the ratio of
children to child care provider which was reduced from
5:1 to 3:1 for children below one year. For the 2–3 year-
olds, the ratio remains at 5:1 (Child Care Centre Act 1984
Amendment — Act 1285/2007 Regulations). The
requirement for home-based child care centres to
register can also be considered as another assurance for
improvement in the quality of the child care service.

Ninth Malaysia Plan 2006–2010

The Ninth Malaysia Plan 2006–2010, like all the previous
Plans, spells out the Government’s mission and direction
for growth and development for the intended period,
thus indicating the policies of the Government. In this
Plan, the Government’s thinking is conveyed as five key
thrusts and one of them is “to raise the capacity for
knowledge and innovation and nurture a first class
mentality” (para.33, p.13). To achieve this goal of human
capital building, improving the access and quality of the
education system at all levels was identified as one of
the critical strategies. But child care was not considered
as part of the education system (while preschool is) in
spite of being a signatory to the Declaration of
Education for All whose first goal is the expansion of
early childhood care and education. Instead child care is
seen as a service to empower women’s participation in
the labour force: “Measures will also be undertaken to
increase provision of childcare facilities and promote
flexible working arrangements to facilitate the greater
participation of women in the labour force” (para. 1.33,
p. 33). Ensuring that children in early vulnerable years are
given an appropriate environment and experiences to
grow and develop their potential is thus not considered
to be a critical strategy for building up the human capital
of a nation.
In the Plan, it was stated that “The Child Care Centre Act
1984 will be reviewed to further improve the provision of
quality services in line with the principles of early
childhood education care and development” (para.
15.35, p. 316). The amendment to the Child Care Centre
Act was passed in July 2007 but the Act does little to
improve the quality of the service in line with childhood
care and development principles. Without the
improvement in the quality of child care providers, the
quality of child care will not be raised considerably.

Provision of Child Care Services

The Ninth Malaysia Plan acknowledges that child care
services are needed to enable women to participate in
the labour force. In 2005, 3.9 million women were
employed, indicating the female participation rate in the
labour force to be 45.7% and showing an increase from
44.7% in 2000 (para.15.35, p.316). Out of the population
of 26.75 million in 2005, 3.05 million were estimated to
be children in the 0–4 age group. Going by the number
of registered child care centres in 2005, as shown in
Table 1, it appears that there were insufficient centres if
parents were to use the service. Admittedly, there were
many centres that did not register and there were home-
based child care centres and centres run by government
agencies which were not required by law to register.

Table 1 Number of Registered Child Care

Centres (Institution) by Year

However the data presented in Table 1 disclose a

worrying trend; the number of registered institution-
based child care centres dropped from 446 in 2004 to
306 in 2007. On record, there were 2,176 (this figure
includes the 306 child care centres that registered in
2007) that had at one time or another registered with
the Department of Social Welfare. This decline needs to
be investigated. The Department of Social Welfare has to
ascertain the reasons for (a) leaving the industry, (b) the
reluctance of people to go into this industry, and (c) the
disinclination of child care operators to register their
centres.

The study conducted by the National Family and

Population Board in 1999 reported that only a small
percentage of parents were using child care centres:
9.2% of the children younger than one year old, 13.3% of
the 1–2 year olds and 15.1% of the 3–4 year olds were in
child care centres (see Table 2). In 2006 the National
Family and Population Board conducted another study
on child care (National Family and Population Board,
2008). Unfortunately, this study analyzed the data for
children below seven years of age and not for those
below four years of age. Nevertheless, the data indicate
that the percentage of parents using child care centres
was still low, being only 10.6% (see Table 3). The
percentage of parents in urban areas using child care
centres was much higher than their rural counterparts,
with 12.9% of urban parents compared with 5.9% of rural
parents are using child care centres (see Table 3).

Table 2 Type of Child Care Parents Used by

Children below 4 Years of Age in 1999:
Percentage of Parents

Table 3 Type of Child Care Parents Used for

Children below 7 Years of Age in 2006:
Percentage of Parents

In 1999, 40% of the children less than one year old were
looked after by family members, 31.0% by neighbours or
friends, and 6.2% by maids, while the percentage of
family members looking after the 1–2 and 3–4 year olds
was 36.0 and 37.6 respectively (see Table 2). In 2006,
family members still constituted the majority of the
caregivers for children, at 35.3 % (see Table 3). The
percentage of children looked after by maids was
considerable, at 14.8% and was relatively high for rural
children, being 11.2% as compared with 16.0% of urban
children (see Table 3). The vast majority of the maids
were migrant workers, mainly Indonesians, thus
indicating that these children were looked after by
caregivers of a different culture.

Community-Based Child Care Centres

The findings of the National Family and Population
Board’s study in 1999 indicated that affordability was a
significant factor in the type of child care used. While
8.9% of the families with a household income of RM
4,0002 and above used child care services, only 4.9% of
those with a household income of less than RM2,000 did
so. The Government is aware of the cost of child care
and the burden the parents, especially those in the low
socio-economic group, have to bear. Hence in the Ninth
Malaysia Plan, the Government announced that:
“Community childcare and nursery centres will be
established in selected housing areas to ensure the
availability of affordable quality care” (para. 13.26, p.
289). It went on further to explain in paragraph 15.35, “…
The establishment of the community child care centres
will provide affordable and accessible quality child care
facilities especially for the lower income groups in the
urban areas who cannot afford to send their children to
child care centres run by the private sector” (p. 316).

A pilot project was launched in April 2006 which involved

the Association of Registered Child Care Providers,
Malaysia as the local community. A startoff grant of RM
55,000 for furniture, materials and equipment and an
annual operational grant of RM 64,000 for the subsidy of
30 children whose parents’ income is below RM 2,000,
and for expenses such as utilities were given to the local
community. Five more community-based centres were
set up in 2006 and 10 more in 2007. For subsequent
years, 10 such centres will be established annually.
The effort of the Government to provide subsidy to
parents with an income of less than RM 2,000 is highly
commendable. However, this form of assistance may not
reach those who badly need the assistance because their
areas may not have local communities who have
concerns for children. Furthermore, some of those who
are earning just above the cut-off point may be in need
of financial assistance due to commitments such as
looking after aged parents. A much more equitable
system would be to provide subsidy on a sliding scale
depending on the financial status of the parents as
indicated on their income tax declaration. This subsidy is
given to the child irrespective of whether he or she uses
a community-, home- or institution-based child care
centre. With this system, child care centres, whether they
are institution- or home-based, are likely to have the
incentive to register. In addition, the fee and quality of
the centre are standardized voluntarily, without having
to resort to legislation.

This proposed sliding scale system promotes equity

because those who can afford child care are not given
the subsidy. Table 4 shows that the subsidy is not
systematized; those who needed financial assistance
were not provided the subsidy while those who do not
need it may be receiving it : 22.2% of those with incomes
higher than RM 2,000 were receiving free child care
services while the percentage of parents in the RM
1,000–RM 1,499 and RM 1,500–RM 1,900 categories who
did not have to pay for child care services was only 16.6
and 15.8, respectively.

Table 4 Payment of Child Care According to

Parents’ Income in 2006: Percentage of
Parents

PERMATA Negara
Permata means “jewel,” “gem” or “precious stone” in
Malay. This organization, the brainchild of Datin Seri
Rosmah Mansor, who is the wife of the Deputy Prime
Minister of Malaysia, was set up to promote and develop
early childhood education and care. When Datin Seri
Rosmah visited Pen Green Centre, Corby in February
2006, she was so impressed by the programme that she
immediately established the Permata Negara
programme to adapt the Pen Green Programme for
children of five years of age and below. The first pilot
Permata Child Centre was launched in May 2007.

Since then 13 Permata Negara centres have been

established under the Permata Council in the Prime
Minister Department with the Deputy Prime Minister as
the Chairman of the Council. The main committee in this
Council, under the Chairmanship of Datin Seri Rosmah,
has six technical committees. The Curriculum and
Training Technical Committee, one of the six
committees, is tasked to modify the Pen Green
curriculum, write modules, and train the early childhood
educators who already have, at least, a diploma in early
childhood education. Permata is in the process of
designing a uniform curriculum for all children of ages
five years and below by incorporating elements of the
Basic Child Care Course and those of the other early
childhood programmes conducted by the various
government agencies into the Permata Curriculum.

Training of Child Care Providers

From the beginning of the training for child care
providers in the 1980s until now, there has been no
significant change in the training module for child care
providers and for trainers of trainers (TOT). In addition,
there is too much educational in-breeding, as almost the
same trainers have been used for TOT throughout its
use. While the bottom base of trainers for the child care
providers has increased, the top pool of trainers for
trainers has remained unchanged. Although the pool of
trainers of child care providers has increased through
outsourcing the training to accredited agencies, these
trainers have undergo the same TOT course by the same
pool of trainers. Furthermore, during these 20 odd years,
no experts in early childhood have been invited for their
input in revising the basic course for child care providers
and for the trainers of trainers.

Attempts to advocate for upgrades in the qualifications

for child care providers via the use of higher-quality
training are often met with resistance, since any increase
in the current RM450 fee may be difficult for many
potential child care providers to afford. Increased costs
would be likely to result from efforts to increase the
quality of training for child care providers. Any increase
in the length of the Course will burden child care
providers further and result in even fewer of them
seeking training to become registered child care
providers.

This seems a chicken-and-egg situation. Owing to the

fact that child care providers are not required to have
high academic and professional qualifications, their
status remains low. Parents and the society see them as
child minders or even as maids rather than as early
childhood educators. Hence, they are disinclined to pay
them professional fees.

Moving Forward

There seems to be a positive move towards raising the

qualification and status of child care providers. On 4
August 2006, a taskforce was formed to look into three
aspects of early childhood care and development,
following a 2-day workshop on this topic. The taskforce
was to look into three aspects of early childhood care
and development, namely (a) to draft a policy on early
childhood care and development, (b) to look into the
training of child care providers, and (c) to devise a
quality improvement accreditation system.

Quality Child Care Providers

Studies of neuroscientists have shown the impact the
environment has on children’s development in the first
three years of their lives (Shonkoff & Phillips, 2000; Zero
to Three, 2000). Hence, due attention must be given to
ensure that the child is given quality child care by his
caregivers, whether they are his or her parents or child
care providers. All children, irrespective their socio-
economic status, ethnicity, religion, gender, and political
beliefs of their parents, must be given the same quality
care so that they are not deprived of the windows of
opportunity in which to nurture emotional, physical, and
intellectual growth.

Quality child care service is impossible without quality

child care providers. Hence, the industry must be able to
attract the best brains. Appropriate status must be
awarded to child care providers and this is not possible
without good salary and social recognition of their
importance and contribution to human capital building
and to the nation’s growth. Remuneration is not just
commensurate with one’s work, but also with the
qualification, professionalism, and effectiveness of the
worker. The academic and professional qualification of
child care providers must go beyond the 103-hour
course.

Recognizing the need for quality child care providers, the

Ministry of Women, Family and Community
Development appointed a Committee of experts in the
field, comprising child care providers, trainers,
academicians, and experts in early childhood care and
education, in November 2006 to develop a certificate in
child care in accordance with the National Occupational
Skill Standard (NOSS) with the collaboration of the
Department of Skill Development in the Ministry of
Human Resources. The task was completed in July 2007
after six workshops, which involved, in part, task analysis
and validation. The production of their work was the
Standard Practice and Standard Content for Child Care
Provider (Level 2), Senior Child Care Provider (Level 3),
Child Care Centre Supervisor (Level 4) and Child Care
Manager (Level 5). This programme does not only equip
participants with the skill needed for each of the jobs but
it also provides a career path in the industry. Further, the
programme makes accessible a pathway for pursing
degrees in early childhood care and development and its
related fields. The pathway also enables child care
providers to become Child Care Provider Specialist,
Senior Child Care Specialist and Child Care Provider
Expert.

The Standard Practice and Standard Content for the four

levels was first approved by the Advisory Committee on
Skill Development of Early Child Care and Development
in the Department of Social Welfare and then by the
National Skill Development Council, Ministry of Human
Resources. Finally, the curriculum for the four levels is
being developed by a pool of experts appointed by the
Department of Skill Development, Ministry of Human
Resources.

Quality Improvement and Accreditation System

(QIAS)
A checklist has been designed for child care centres to
assess themselves and for officers in the Department of
Social Welfare (DSW) to evaluate the centres. Though
the checklist has been field tested, it is on hold as not all
the centres are ready to assess themselves. Most
importantly, the percentage of centres that are currently
registered is small. The officers of DSW have therefore to
overcome centres’ reluctance to register first before
implementing QIAS. In addition, the assessment must
have a purpose, especially in terms of benefits to
stakeholders if it is to be implemented effectively.

Early Childhood Care and Development Policy

The Ninth Malaysia Plan, in paragraph 15.33, states that
the second Nation Plan of Action (2006–2020):

… will be implemented to enhance the quality

of life of children with emphasis on their
protection, development and participation in
line with the CRC and Vision 2020. An Early
Childhood Care and Development Policy will
be formulated for the future development of
strategies and programmes to ensure the total
development of children according to their
rights and needs. (p. 315)

The policy, which was drafted in 2006 by a committee of

experts in the field of child development, educators,
child care providers, social workers, and lawyers, was not
approved by the Cabinet who then assigned the task to
the National Permata Committee chaired by the wife of
the Deputy Prime Minister (Early education policy for
kids, 2008).

Recommendations and Conclusion

In the Ninth Malaysia Plan, the provision of child care

centres is looked upon as a service — as measure to
empower women to participate in the labour force while
investment in preschool education is seen as human
capital development. The Convention of the Rights of
the Child (CRC), which Malaysia ratified in 1995,
categorically states that every child has the right to
development. Since children have the right to
development, child care should, like preschool
education, be a means to enable children to develop
their potential for their own sake and to contribute
towards the human capital of the nation and not as a
service to enable mothers to work.

Since neuroscience studies have disclosed the impact the

environment has on the child’s development during the
first three years of life, the government should ensure
that no child is deprived of this window of opportunity
for development. Furthermore, non-discrimination is a
fundamental principle of the CRC. Therefore, children
who are denied access to quality child care on account
of affordability are discriminated on economic ground.
Subsidy on a sliding scale, which is much more equitable,
is not difficult to implement.

Many parents still have the notion that child care is

custodian care. Therefore, there must be an awareness
drive to alert parents, especially parents in the lower
socio-economic group, of the dire consequences if their
children in their formative years are not given
appropriate developmental experiences.. Not only are
parents the first and foremost caregiver and educator of
the child in his or her formative years, they are the
members of society who can pressure the Government
to ensure quality child care for their children.

Participation is another right of the child, implying that

children are entitled to have their views on matters
concerning them heard. Alison Clark (2007), who
conducted a study to involve young children and
practitioners in the design process of early childhood
spaces, concluded that children are “acute observers and
explorers of their immediate environments” and this
competency probably provides architects and designers
with “different contexts for thinking about buildings and
the work with young children …”.(p.40). While I do not
expect such involvement to take place in Malaysia, I do
hope that policy makers, society, early childhood
educators, and parents will make decisions based on the
best interests of the child, which is also in line with the
principles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The study to provide an overview of the service, to

assess standard of care, and to make recommenddations
for policies for improving the quality of child care was
conducted more than 20 years ago. A similar study
should be carried out so that policies on early child care
and development, the provision of care child services,
and the training of child care providers or early
childhood educators are based on what children in their
vulnerable years need for the fulfillment of their
potential.

Notes

1. 1.
This Ministry was formerly the Ministry of National
Unity and Community Development. The
Department of Social Welfare which is currently
under the Ministry of Women, Family and
Community Development, was the Ministry of
Social Welfare Services.

2. 2.
RM stands for Ringgit Malaysia, the national
currency of Malaysia.

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Author information

Affiliations

1. Commissioner of Human Rights Commission of

Malaysia, Human Rights Commission, Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia

Heng Keng Chiam

2. Commissioner of Human Rights Commission of

Malaysia, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia

Heng Keng Chiam

Corresponding author
Correspondence to Heng Keng Chiam.
Additional information

Former professor of Social Psychology in Education

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Chiam, H.K. Child Care in Malaysia: Then and Now. ICEP
2, 31–41 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/2288-6729-2-2-
31

Published20 February 2015

Issue DateNovember 2008

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1007/2288-6729-2-2-31

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