DOUBTLESSLY, Malaysians in the B40 group must change their mindset of having one too many offspring.
While some believe that having many children is a religious obligation, it is equally important to consider that bearing children entails both blessings and obligation on the part of all parents to ensure that their kids are given proper care and attention during their entire growing up process.
Far from being a question that the poor or less fortunate members of the society should be barred from having many children, this is more of a question of how not financially-sound parents are able to fulfil responsibility towards themselves first – notably by having a secured job and decent income stream – prior to managing that many mouths to be fed.
Such interesting yet touching societal challenges that affect many B40 families came to light following a recent exposure by Malay language news portal Harian Metro of the plight of 12-year-old bright Kelantanese pupil Nur Nasuha Nusi who harboured dreams of pursuing her studies at the MARA Junior Science College (MRSM) next year.
Unfortunately, fate had it that Nur Nasuha had to skip the qualification examination as she did not have a vehicle to ferry her to the Kuala Krai MRSM on Oct 8 to sit for the International General Certification of Secondary Education (IGCSE) test due to her family’s poverty.
“Bro, you’ve to understand. Her mother is pregnant with her fifth child. FIFTH CHILD. If the father can’t even service his own debts (he had to stop work as a mechanic due to chronic illness two years ago), this means he can’t afford to support many children,” justified social media influencer Izwan Izzat (@heyizwanizzat) on the X platform.
Bang, kau kene faham. Mak dia tengah mengandung anak kelima. ANAK KELIMA. Kalau hutang sendiri pun tak mampu bayar, maksudnya dia tak mampu nak tanggung anak yang ramai.
Anak tu satu rezeki kalau mampu. Dan bila kau dah mampu, anak tu dah jadi satu amanah. Kalau tanggungjawab…
— Izwan Izzat (@heyizwanizzat) October 17, 2024
“A child is a blessing if you can afford it. If you’re capable, the child can enable you to meet your (religious) obligation. But if you can’t even look after yourself, how are you going to care for another obligation?”
Added Izwan: “It’s not mandatory to have many children. But fulfilling one’s responsibility towards the child is mandatory. If you already can’t fulfil the existing parental duties, how about other life responsibilities? Leave it to the children? That’s not the child’s responsibility.”
Izwan Izzat’s sensible social media post elicited many affirmative comments, the most eye-opening of which came from netizen Malissa (@malissaali) who delved into the “high cost of birth planning”.
“Birth control is all about trial and error; if it doesn’t work, you’ve to take it out quickly. Moreover, the side effects can cause greater complications,” she attested. “Does this mean that only people who can afford it (birth control) should copulate after getting married?”
Mereka cuma mampu makan nasi goreng kosong. Sedangkan kos perancang keluarga mahal.
Birth control ni try and error, bila tak jadi kena bawak keluar cepat2. Side effects dia boleh menyebabkan komplikasi lebih besar.
Orang yang mampu je ke boleh berjimak lepas berkahwin? https://t.co/4yLR1eVdaS pic.twitter.com/ESWKlIksGs— Malissa (@malissaali) October 18, 2024
Stressing that poverty is multi-dimensional and “transcends not having money”, Malissa further observed that it has become a systemic problem for poor people to have many children because “birth control planning methods are less accessible to them”.
“Surely you can get it from KK (Kuala Krai) after giving birth but there are only two options. Depo (Depoprovera and Depocon) and IUCD (intrauterine contraceptive device) which have side effects, hence entailing greater treatment costs,” she lamented.
Interestingly, some women folks corrected Malissa on the convenience and accessibility factors in acquiring birth control devices – even in rural locales – as this “costs only RM1 at nearest government healthcare clinks” and that these facilities tend “to follow up with mothers on which birth control method to use” soon after their giving birth. – Oct 20, 2024
