KUALA LUMPUR, July 9 — Putrajaya is proposing an online compatibility quiz made accessible to singles as well as young couples before they decide to get married.

This is part of the government’s efforts to tackle the divorce rate in the country — and it’s completely voluntary.

Women, Family and Community Development Deputy Minister Hannah Yeoh said the voluntary quiz will comprise a personality test to help couples understand themselves better.

“Since the [divorce] statistics show that misunderstanding [was one of the reasons], we are saying young people should know who they are first.

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“This is our suggestion because nowadays people sometimes have to pay money to do this. We are saying we want to make this available so more young people have access to these kinds of things,” Yeoh told a press conference in Parliament lobby here today.

In a tweet later, Yeoh clarified by saying the quiz was a mere tool to help young, married couples avoid getting divorced.

 

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“We’re talking about self-discovery about yourself and your partner in the pre-marital stage because more than 30 per cent divorces within the first five years of marriage. It’s not compulsory and not to regulate your decision to marry,” she tweeted.

Earlier in the Dewan Rakyat, Yeoh said couples between the ages of 30 and 34 suffer the highest rate of divorce, as many rush into marriage before getting to know their partners, or themselves, well enough.

She said one third of women had cited misunderstanding as cause for divorce, followed by infidelity and irresponsible spouses, while half of the men similarly cited misunderstanding as a key reason, followed by interference by in-laws and infidelity.

Citing the National Registration Department’s records, Yeoh said 17,359 troubled marriages were due to financial issues between 2013 and May 31 this year, followed by 6,574 cases of third-party interferences and 4,884 cases of emotional and physical abuse.

She said the number of marriages had dropped from 200,274 in 2016 to 190,532 in 2017, while divorces had also dropped from 51,642 cases in 2016 to 49,965 cases.