MALAYSIA’S fertility rate has hit an all-time low, slipping below the replacement level of 2.1 since 2013. The government is perturbed over the perceived repercussions on the nation’s economy, demography and ageing population.
However, at the same time, the government announced that global climate change is a cardinal consideration for us, given its seriousness on the very existence of the planet.
Since World War 2 the world’s population has leap-frogged three times but our per capita consumption of most commodities has more than quadrupled, leading us into embarrassing inadequacies on all fronts.
The world’s population is expected to increase by 2.5 billion to 9.2 billion by 2050. Almost all the population growth will take place in developing countries.
The population of developed nations is expected to remain unchanged and would have come down but for migration-cum-refugees. With ever-increasing consumption, we cannot sustain an exponential growth non-stop.
Our schools are overcrowded, our highways and city centres are congested, our public transport is top-heavy, house prices are beyond the reach of the man in the street and our environment is being ravaged by expanding urban boundaries.
Commuters would be packed like sardines into public transport because the government would be shoved to the limits to support infrastructure needs. What do we do about rising crime and disease control?
More people means more carbon dioxide emissions. Ironically, to live we must pollute. More carbon dioxide emissions mean faster climate change.
Trees have to be cut down to make way for housing blocks. We are now at the crossroads of our existence. We have to halt climate change in its tracks or die.
John Guillebaud, emeritus professor of family planning at University College London, said: “The effect on the planet of having one child less is an order of magnitude greater than all these other things we might do, such as switching off lights”.
For a country to be sustained, its population and resources must be in harmony. Take Denmark, for example. It has a stable population of some five million with a deliberate low fertility rate and immigration rate.
It exports more than it imports. Its unemployment rate is the lowest in Europe. It has no intention to increase its population. And, to cap it all, it is one of the happiest countries in the world.
The decision to have children should be seen as a very huge one taking into consideration the inevitable fallout of environmental consequences. Guillebaud said that, as a general guideline,
couples should produce no
more than two offspring to save the planet.
Depending on population growth to solve our problems is akin to getting hooked on drugs. The population growth phase would be at the expense of others and there will always be a cap to its expansion by factors such as water, food supply, space or disease.
We would be caught in a vicious spiral of increasing our dosage to achieve the same effect and the ultimate result would be disastrous. So, in the final analysis, a lower fertility rate is a blessing in disguise and is to be welcomed.
DR A. SOORIAN
Jalan Dato’ Bandar Tunggal, Seremban, Negri Sembilan