KUALA LUMPUR: Hug daily, even if it is just for 10 seconds to keep your marriage healthy.
This was the advice from Women, Family and Community Development Deputy Minister Datuk Azizah Mohd Dun in the Dewan Rakyat today.
Azizah said usually when a couple get married, they start out as inseparable.
“But after a few years, the flame burns out. So cuddle each other every day to strengthen your marriage,” she said in her reply to a question by Datuk Mohd Idris Jusi (PKR-Batu Pahat).
Azizah said that the ministry had been promoting its ‘10-second cuddle' advice to young married couples.
“We have been asking couples to practice the '10-second cuddle'. If possible, it should be done every day as it is good,” she added.
She said this was among the measures taken by the ministry to address the high rate of divorce among young married couples.
Azizah said a study done by the National Population and Family Planning Board in 2014 showed that one out of three marriages end up in divorce or separation in the first five years.
She concurred with Mohd Idris that interference by in-laws had also been cited as one of the main cause for divorce.
Meanwhile, Azizah also said that the ministry had conducted 48,506 counseling sessions with 129,626 clients from 2006 to June this year.
She said that the ministry also conducts a programme called the “SMARTSTART second honeymoon” for those who have been married for more than five years. These couples, she said, are usually referred to by state religious departments and the National Registration Department.
The ministry also offers a two-day SMARTSTART pre-marriage programme which is conducted in Bahasa Malaysia, English, Tamil. The programme notes are also available in Braille for the visually-impaired.
The ministry also conducts financial planning programmes, parenting programmes for working parents and a family and community empowerment programme for couples. --Additional reporting by ARFA YUNUS.