Valentine’s Day has just passed with couples across the world and Malaysia celebrating the occasion yesterday by treating their partner to fancy meals, chocolates, and of course, roses.
However, not much of these romantic relationships are leading to marriage and children being born especially within the Malaysian Chinese circle, leading an MP to raise the alarm.
M’sian Chinese records low birth rates
In a Facebook post by Bayan Baru MP Sim Tze Tzin, he expressed his concern over the latest statistics provided by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) about birth rates among the Malaysian Chinese community.
He added that in 2022, only about 40,000 babies were born compared to 423,124 total live births, which was less than 10% of total live births.
When I look into DOSM’s latest statistics, I found out Malaysian Chinese not only have less babies, there are less marriages too! Double shocks!
“According to DOSM statistics for 2021, General Marriage Rate (GMR) among Muslim males is 60.4 while non-Muslim males’ GMR is 21.9. GMR for Muslim females is 62 while non-Muslim (females) is 23.
“In summary, about 22 marriages happened in 1,000 non-Muslim populations whereas about 61 marriages happened in 1,000 Muslim populations,” he added.
For the uninitiated, GMR is a measurement of total marriages in a year compared to 1,000 unmarried individuals aged 16 and over (females) or aged 18 and over (males).
MP urges M’sian Chinese to get hitched
In light of the worrying numbers, Sim called upon the Malaysian Chinese community to take the initiative in tying the knot and bearing more children in order to curb declining birth rates.
I wish to urge Chinese communities to look into the problem of less marriages. While staying single is one’s own life choice, we should encourage marriages among those who are inclined to marry.
“I call out to those singles out there, go out and seek your love and life partners. Please get married in this auspicious dragon year. It’s a journey worth taking. Remember to have more babies too,” he wrote.
However, Sim’s plea wasn’t widely accepted by netizens, who criticised him to failing to consider other factors such as rising living costs, changing societal values, and financial pressures.
What do you think of YB Sim’s call? Let us know in the comments!
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