Dragon is an auspicious and powerful icon in Chinese custom where Chinese parents are fond of having babies in the Year of Dragon.

Nevertheless, such phenomenon has changed as the figures released by the Department of Statistics in 2024, which is the year of dragon, shows otherwise.

Chinese babies born in the year of dragon is even lower than the previous year, which is the year of rabbit.

A total of 29,585 Chinese babies were born in 2024, 4,088 less than the previous year.

In a survey conducted by Goh Soo Khoon, associate professor at the Centre for Policy Research and International Studies, Universiti Sains Malaysia, the outcome indicates that Malaysian Chinese prefer to remain single and those married opt not to have babies.

The young Malaysian Chinese also do not care about the decline in Chinese population and they do not see themselves getting involved –  increase the population by getting married and have a family.

A total of 22.5 per cent of Chinese respondents who participated in a survey plan to get married but 28.47 per cent of them indicate that they have no plan to have children while 46 per cent of them are unsure and 31.5 per cent plan to remain single.

Of the three ethnic groups, 62.62 per cent of the Malays confirm that they want to get married and only 6.67 per cent of them do not have plan to marry.

For Indians, 46 per cent have plans to get married, 34 per cent are unsure and 20 per cent opt not to get married.

Goh said the differences in percentage highlight the need to conduct a deeper level of research on the impact of culture, economy and social in marriage perception affecting different ethnic groups.

For respondents who plan to get married, Goh probed further in the survey on whether they are having children and the number of children they plan to have.

A total of 95.92 per cent of the Malays are clear about having babies, followed by Indians where 90 per cent of them plan to have a family. Only 71.53 per cent of Chinese plan to have babies, she said.

On number of children, Goh said Malays are inclined to have a bigger family where 50.27 per cent of them opt to have two or more children while 65.31 per cent of Chinese stick to two and 13.78 per cent of Chinese prefer to have more than two.

For Indians, 52.78 per cent of the respondents opt for two children and 20.83 per cent opt for more than two.

“Majority of the Chinese are only keen to have two children. In contrast, more Malays and Indians are willing to have more than two children,’’ she said.

Goh highlighted that 28.47 per cent of Chinese respondents indicate they do not plan to have children while only 4.08 per cent of Malays and 10 per cent of Indians have the same plan.

The survey proved that the decline in fertility rates is related to the plunge in marriage rates. It is also closely related to one’s choice in family and lifestyle.

The survey was participated by 920 people – 420 Malays, 400 Chinese and 100 Indian aged between 20 and 45 in Penang and Prai.