Rant of An Average Malaysian - Malaysians Need More Children?!

I've arrived at the age where my Facebook page is filled with streams of my ex-classmates/friends/acquaintances who are getting married and/or having children. My sister is no exception. Here's a picture of my beautiful sister who got married last year.

Being constantly bombarded with the question "When are you getting married?", I came across a new marriage-related angle in The Star. Women, Family and Community Deve­lop­ment Minister Datuk Seri Rohani Abdul Karim said that Malaysia's population is shrinking with an expected 1.91 average fertility rate in 2020. That means that Malaysians will only be having an average of 1-2 children per family, barely enough to replace the parents when they're gone. I only want to have one child myself so I can see this as a real issue in our society. What are some chief reasons for this?

1 - High Cost of Living

Everything is expensive. There's no denying it. The prices of everything just hiked recently, what with the introduction of GST. Some places that never charged service tax has started doing so. Working towards owning a house has always been difficult and that hasn't changed. Fact is, the average young Malaysian probably earns just enough to get by and save a  bit. Even with an increment in my salary, it barely makes a difference. I hardly have enough for myself, let alone 3 or 4 children. The math is easy. Less children means less likelihood of starvation. 

2 - Quality Over Quantity

I'm not sure about other people but when I consider my child, i factor in all expenses up till they graduate, get their first job and become self sufficient. This means on top of normal necessities, I have to add in cost of tertiary education, which can easily go up to 6 figures nowadays, what more 20 years in the future. I'd hate to stunt my child's potential because 3 of them have to share 1 college fund.I'd also like to lavish attention on each child rather than miss out on things with child 1 because i was busy with child 3. 

3 - Career and Stability

Enter the age of equality! Women can build their own careers too. This helps bring the average household income up and makes it easier for couples to cope with Issues 1 and 2. However, even with a partner or spouse, both would still need to have a good combined income before going on to the next step. Which means that they are less likely to marry and have children at an early age. I wouldn't marry and have kids before I have a house (where my spouse and kids can call home) and a stable job to sustain our lives together. So that leaves less time for a woman to have children. 

Just these 3 factors are enough to make me think twice, thrice and more before having a child, much less 3 or 4. Before the issues are resolved, I don't think Malaysia will have a boom in Malaysian babies. What say you?