Survey: 85% of Malaysians yearn for phoneless mealtimes

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysians love their handphones but when it comes to mealtimes, and better relationships, they would like to see it kept away from the table.

About 85% of urban Malaysians said mealtimes with others would be better if everyone turned off their phones, according to the 2017 Prudential Relationship Index (PRI) survey.

This is higher than the average of 77% in nine Asian nations in the survey.

In fact, 50% of people in the region believe that time spent on the phone has a negative impact on their relationships with family and that phones are becoming a distraction to relationships.

The PRI survey was to find out what matters most in personal relationships throughout Asia. More than 4,600 people, aged between 25 and 55, in Malaysia, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam were interviewed between June 26 and July 20. This is the second such survey done by Prudential, the first being done last year.

In Malaysia, 516 people in Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya with incomes of at least RM4,000 per month were interviewed.

About 68% of Asians believe that some families spend too much time on the phone rather than talking to each other. About 90%, the highest proportion in the survey, of those surveyed in the Philippines wish for handphoneless mealtimes, while only 40%, the lowest, in Thailand share this sentiment.

Those interviewed said that while technology had its good side, it also had the potential to cause issues between partners. Spending too much time on the phone or computer is the fourth-highest reason for argument across the nine nations, at 29%.

And 32% of people in Asia feel they are competing for attention with their partner’s phone, a sentiment felt most commonly by people in China (39%). Also, 29% of people across Asia said they were often upset by their partners’ posts on social media. -FMT