“Marriage brings responsibilities, men become leaders and women become mothers,” Mohamed Naim said during Father’s Day celebrations on June 29.
Soon after, the National Security Council also voiced its criticism of the childfree trend. In a rare commentary posted to its website in early July, the council said, “The concept of not having children could lead to demographic imbalances in society.”
“This will directly provoke tensions between different ethnic groups and social classes, ultimately leading to internal conflict and crisis,” the NSC warned.
Racial balance has been a key issue in Malaysia since independence in 1957. The bloody race riots in Kuala Lumpur in 1969 remain a pivotal event in the country’s ongoing debate about race relations.
In a response to Parliament on July 10, the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development (KPWKM) said there was a downward trend in marriages among all races in the country except Bumiputera, the country’s indigenous people, which includes Malays.
Meanwhile, KPWKM leader Nancy Shukri, in response to a question in parliament on July 2, defended the right of each couple to decide what is best for them.
“The ministry believes it is the right of couples to decide whether to have children and how many they have,” Nancy said, adding that falling fertility rates were a global issue with multiple interrelated factors.
Sim Tse Tsin, the lawmaker who questioned the minister, echoed X, calling marriage a “beautiful journey of life” and an “important institution” for society and the country.
His comments were heavily criticised by the public, with many pointing out that the government has yet to address the economic concerns and social welfare gaps that are barriers for many people wanting to start a family.
“How can a country with poor quality and affordable healthcare be a conducive environment for marriage, childbirth and ageing?” activist Bharathi Selvam responded.
Malaysia, a nation of 34 million people, is seeing its birth rate plummet from 4.9 children per woman in 1970 to 1.6 by 2023. Moreover, fewer couples are choosing to marry, especially among Chinese Malaysians: The marriage rate for this ethnic group fell 33 percent between 2016 and 2022, according to data from the Department of Statistics.
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Hundreds of sea nomads deported as Malaysia cracks down on illegal immigration
Hundreds of sea nomads deported as Malaysia cracks down on illegal immigration
While healthy marriage rates have been seen among Malays, who saw their marriage rate rise by 47 percent over the same six-year period, sociologist Yarina Ahmad of the Universiti Teknologi Mara in Kuala Lumpur said all ethnic groups in Malaysia have seen declining birth rates.
Commenting on the debate around not having children, Yarian said it had been widely sensationalised and that while the lifestyle had been around for “a while”, it was only recently that some couples had found the courage to publicly express it.
“This lifestyle may not be a problem in some countries, but in Malaysia it is not widely accepted due to social and ethical norms,” Yarina told This Week in Asia.
“The majority of Malaysia’s population is Muslim and from an Islamic perspective, the decision not to have children is considered to be contrary to human nature and the purpose of marriage.”
Azfar, 36, a manager at an international esports organisation, told This Week in Asia that he decided not to have children in order to focus on his career and personal dreams.
“My wife and I want to travel, buy a better car, move to a bigger house, maybe emigrate. If you have kids, you need to be self-sufficient,” he said.
His wife, Nadia, gave a more personal reason.
“I can’t stand the pain of having ‘something’ inside me and the pain of delivering that ‘something’,” explained the 35-year-old human resources executive.
Yarina stressed that this is a matter of personal choice, but that it is important for all sides to respect each other’s beliefs and norms.
“At one point, a couple may decide not to have children. But at another point in their lives, they may regret not having had children while they could.”
