SIBU: The Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) Pelawan branch Service Centre has given out incentives totaling RM270,000 to newlywed couples and newborn babies in the Pelawan constituency since 2022.
Pelawan assemblyman Datuk Michael Tiang Ming Tee said that the initiative was conceived by him as a form of encouragement for young couples to tie the knot as well as for parents to have children.
“Young people nowadays need a lot of courage and financial means to deal with daily necessities, especially for the baby, in order to get married and have babies. It is very challenging.
“As an assemblyman, through this programme, I can at least give them some encouragement,” he said when met by reporters after presenting incentives to 12 pairs of newlywed couples and 76 newborn babies.
Since 2022, the programme has brought cheers and benefited 263 newlywed couples and 471 babies, with each couple receiving RM500 and each baby receiving RM300.
The Deputy Minister for Public Health, Housing and Local Government also acknowledged the need for more couples to get married and have children given the current decrease in birth rate in the country.
“In 1970, the birth rate in Malaysia was 4.9 per couple, and it dropped to 1.6 per couple in 2022. This decline is quite serious and not good for Sarawak.
“If we continue to have this trend of a low birth rate without an increase, very soon Sibu will become an old folks’ town. All of us will remain as senior citizens with no young people serving the community,” he added.
Tiang also assured parents that the Sarawak Government, led by Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg under Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), will provide free tertiary education to children starting in 2026, which will ease parents’ financial burden regarding education.
Meanwhile, responding to a parent’s question on the lack of baby-changing facilities, especially in shopping centres in Sibu, Tiang said that as shopping malls are owned by private entities, he will try to work together with them.
“I believe they are more than happy to provide such services as it would attract more parents with babies to shop at their shopping centres,” he said.
Tiang pledged that he will continue to improve the environment, facilities, and infrastructure, especially in the Pelawan constituency, to attract more investors to Sibu.
