KUCHING: Most Malaysian families still adhere to tradition when it comes to their children wishing to leave the family house after reaching the legal age of 18.
Despite living a relatively modern life, many parents would not agree for their children to move out and live on their own unless it is really necessary for them to do so.
Many youngsters also have expressed that owing to their current financial factors, it would be almost impossible for them to move out and survive on their own.
However, they believe that this norm should be embraced sometime in the future as it could foster a good start for growth; a means for youth to learn to live independently while forging their own path for their future.
New Sarawak Tribune managed to get the opinion of the youth pertaining to this matter.
SYAHIRA NAZATUL IQMA YAZID, 19, Student
Not everyone has the money to live on their own. However, it is a good towards being independent. If parents are sure that their children can live on their own, why not because if I have enough money I would definitely do so but then again, with our economy, it is kind of impossible.
MOHD NOR HAKIM ABDUL HASSAN, 19, Student
I don’t think that this cab be practiced in Malaysia since even adults on a basic salary would struggle to cope with living alone. I doubt that youth, the majority of whom are students, would be able to do so. At the end of the day, either they or their parents will be burdened as a result of this.
MUHAMAD HAIKAL AIMAN, 18, Student
I agree that youth need to be more independent when they’ve reached a mature age. However, it’s not a priority for them to move out of their parents’ house just because of that. It’s important that they consider larger factors such as education and finances before they decide to live on their own.
JASNITA AHMAD RANDURAH, 19, Student
Living on your own means getting better because one gets to see and experience adulthood first-hand but, this is only for some cases for people who are capable of looking for jobs and providing for themselves. There is no greater feeling than being able to provide for yourself. Thus, I don’t see why we can’t normalise this trend in our country.
RAFIQA NIZAM, 19, Student
Living separately from parents can make a person learn many things and help them to appreciate the smallest things in life. However, with our economy now, even people with jobs that are living alone arealso having trouble supporting themselves. Imagine youth from the age of 18 trying to survive living alone, especially those who are furthering their tertiary studies. How will they manage?
DYG MARISSA KHAIRA AWG MOSLEM, 20, Student
Taking into consideration the nature of teenagers who are very impressionable and easy to influence, it could be very dangerous for them. So, I think it’s not right letting children who just reached 18 to live by themselves.
FATIN SYAZREEN SUKOR, 19, Student
This trend is not a great idea to be practiced in Malaysia because many teenagers lack sufficient planning for their future without the assistance of their parents. Some of them even wasted their adolescence by engaging in immoral behaviour, so we do not want that to increasingly happening.
MIFTAHUL JANNAH AWG BADERULHISAM, 20, Student
It really depends on the person, if they are financially and emotionally stable then it is better for them to live independently to have more privacy and vice versa. However, the trend is impractical here because most of us especially at a young age do not have a stable income to afford living alone.
