IT has been touted as what could be a world first: the Terengganu government is going to help pay for maids of young parents as an incentive to get couples to have more babies.
There’s more. Kindergarten fees are lowered. Couples earning below RM3,000 will be given loans of up to RM20,000 if they want to start a business. Revealing this, the state’s Family Development Foundation director said: “With all this help, couples should not delay marriage. We want them to have more babies. The state’s fertility rate is dropping.”
The “dropping” of the state’s fertility rate may be a blessing in disguise when we consider climate change.
Climate change has superseded terrorism and diseases as the world’s No. 1 threat to its existence. We take our hats off to the prime minister for exploring ways to bring about electric cars to cut carbon emissions.
But, more babies mean more carbon dioxide emissions. Carbon dioxide traps the Earth’s heat radiation, escalating global warming. Carbon footprint quantification, analysis and reduction are the pivotal agents in forestalling change. These hinge directly on population growth.
The world’s population is expected to burgeon by 2.5 billion, reaching 9.2 billion by 2050. Almost all of the population explosion will take place in developing countries.
Research by the Optimum Population Trust shows that if a family has two children instead of three, the family’s carbon dioxide output will be reduced by the equivalent of 620 return flights a year between London and New York.
If the population is left to grow indiscriminately, our quality of life will deteriorate. Population growth is the main cause of inflation. Stress and depression will take a toll on our lives. Violent crime will become the order of the day.
At the end of the day, we must consider the macro-picture of global survival. It is not just about whether we can afford more children.
Dr A Soorian, Seremban, Negri Sembilan