PETALING JAYA: Hulu Terengganu MP Datuk Rosol Wahid has come under fire on social media for his proposal to use polygamy to arrest the declining birth rate.
His proposal for the government to encourage polygamy as among measures during the debates for Budget 2025 in Parliament on Thursday (Nov 28) has also drawn flak from netizens.
Many who commented had come to agree that the root cause of declining birth rate was due to the poor economy and rising costs of living, which polygamy would not solve.
Facebook user Benny Ho instead proposed that the government think of ways to improve the economy.
"Bring in foreign investment, create job opportunities, create business opportunities, once the income of the rakyat is stable automatically the family members will grow.
"For now the rakyat can't even feed themselves. How can they possibly have more children?" he said.
Amy Ong said polygamy would instead create more problems.
"Polygamy does not improve one's well being and the economy of the country if it can't solve the country's problem.
"It may create more problems and family issues and hardship too," she said.
Facebook user Mohd Nor Iqbal said it should be a personal choice and leaders should focus on more pertinent matters for the country.
"Nak kawin 4 kawin ja lah apa masalahnya? Tak nak kawin 4 tak payah. (To marry four, what is the problem? No need if not.)
"Tak perlu kot gazet sebagai national goal national sport. (No need to gazette as a national goal or sport).
"Banyak lagi benda kau boleh propose yang lagi mustahak. (Many more that are more important that you can propose).
"Otak sebesar kacang hijau. (Brain the size of a pea) Masalah population growth adalah isu ekonomi. (The problem with population growth is the economic issue)," he said.
Kesavan G Krishnan said research should be done on the matter with the economy taken into account.
"Before that, try to do a little research on why young parents decide to have less kids.
"Salaries, commitments and inflation are few of the factors.
"Many young couples or parents decide to have less children because of the crazy economics nowadays," he said.
On Instagram, user zaimzarif expressed shame over the statement.
"Woke up and decided to bring this up on budget debate? Hadooiii... malu rasa (feel shameful)," he said.
Farah Ant said the growth of population has to be on par with affordability in living costs.
"Population growth needs to be balanced with affordable cost of living," she said.
Brandon Leow concurred that polygamy was not a solution for increasing population growth.
"It’s the rising cost of living and the fact that people can't afford children also.
"After having more children and not being able to support them would create more problems," he said.
Others joked about Rosol's proposal.
"Great thank you - I am a 60 years old retiree with no income and looking for young wives.
"If you have any young daughters, relatives or friends - please recommend them to me.
"I plan to have more children, said Tu Pak Kwai.
"He's trying to get it approved for himself," said Beow Lee.
Similarly on Instagram, user williamjamesmeredith said the proposal was a joke.
"Malaysian news is a bit like the Google daily joke.
"Every morning there's something new to laugh at," he said.
On Friday (Nov 29), Rosol (PN-Hulu Terrengganu) had said the government should provide incentives to encourage marriage and childbearing, to address the issue of declining birth rates.
"Maybe the government can encourage polygamy," he proposed, which was met with both laughter and disdain from other MPs in the House.
Malaysia's birth rate has been in decline with 2.1 children per woman in 2010, reducing to 1.6 children per woman in 2020.
