Malaysian Family Declaration to be part of national agenda: DPM
Published on: Tuesday, November 26, 2019
By: Bernama
CYBERJAYA: The Malaysian Family Declaration (DKM) will be part of a national agenda so that all parties place the family as a priority in all plans and actions, said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.
Speaking when launching DKM here Monday, Dr Wan Azizah who is also the Minister of Women, Family and Community Development (KPWKM), said DKM outlines the policies and principles contained in the National Family Policy (DKN), in line with the aspiration of the Shared Prosperity Vision 2030.
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“The family institution plays an important role in ensuring the continuity and enhancement of the system of values and morals from one generation to the next because this is what that forms a nation state,” she said.
Dr Wan Azizah said DKM outlined six core principles, namely, first, uplifting the family institution consisting of a diversity of generations as the foundation to the formation of a prosperous state.
The second principle, she said, is to strengthen the role of the family in the moulding of noble values as the foundation of community unity, while the third, empowering the involvement of the community in the strengthening of a prosperous family support system.
The fourth principle emphasises on the importance of protecting the rights and safety of families in all walks of life, while the fifth principle, supporting all initiatives and uniting all sources to boost the strengthening of the marriage and family institutions
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Meanwhile, DKM’s final principle is to support efforts on the wise and beneficial use of technology to improve the quality of life and family well-being, she said.
“Priority must be given to support services for families who need attention such as single mothers, single fathers, hardcore poor families, vulnerable families, families of handicapped children,” she said.
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The 2017 Population and Family Situational Analysis report in Malaysia identified seven major challenges for family institutions today including the ability to have many children, the price of residential homes beyond their means, limitedsource of family social support and unemployment, she said.
The 2017 Statistics Department’s figures also showed that 22 per cent of men and 23.4 per cent of women, aged between 30 and 34 years, had divorced, while 3,913 household violence cases were recorded by the Social Welfare Department from 2015 to June this year, she said.
To involve all parties in making DKM a success, Dr Wan Azizah said that the National Population and Family Development Board (LPPKN) also developed the Family Service Directory which provided information and guidance regarding support services for families.
She said nearly 100 government agencies and non-government organisations (NGO) providing services such as marriage and divorce consultations, management of senior citizenship, concept of parenting, family financial management, counselling and therapy could be found through the platform that could be navigated on LPPKN’s website.
Dr Wan Azizah also touched on the worrying trend regarding pressure and mental problems with the Ministry of Health (KKM) reporting of 356 suicides which took place between 2014 and June this year.
She said the KKM was reviewing proposals to re-activate the National Suicide Registry, while KPWKM had trained as many as 10,840 friends of KPWKM (peer support counsellors) to strengthen the guidance system in the community.
“The important thing is for individuals and families to always be sensitive and willing to get health assistance, including mental health,” she said.
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