A million Malaysians who don’t talk to their neighbours

 

The concept of neighbourliness appears to be losing importance, especially in large cities, according to an academic.

PETALING JAYA: Nearly a million people out of 14.8 million surveyed by the government in 2020 have never spoken to their neighbours.

However, 93.5% of those surveyed remained friendly and communicated with their neighbours, according to government statistics released yesterday.

A general lack of interest in talking to neighbours was most likely due to long hours at work, according to sociologist Shatar Sabran, in interpreting the census’s outcome.

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He said the concept of neighbourliness appears to be losing importance, especially in large cities.

Another academic, Nur Hafeeza Ahmad Pazil of Universiti Sains Malaysia, said the disconnect between neighbours might be more apparent in apartment and condominium buildings in large cities.

“Kampung folk have more time to interact with neighbours, as they bump into them at an eatery, mosque or during gotong-royong,” she said.

Results of the 2020 population census on well-being (social relations) showed that 93.5 % of the 14.8 million respondents had face-to-face interactions with neighbours in a month.

However, 958,808 persons (6.5%) never had any face-to-face interaction.

Some 41.4% engaged in face-to-face interactions every day, while 41.5% do so at least once a week and 10.6% at least once a month, Chief Statistician Uzir Mahadin said in a statement.

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The level of daily interactions with neighbours was higher in Kelantan (55.8%), Sabah (54.7%), Terengganu (52.8%), Kedah (52.7%), Sarawak (51.0%) and Perlis (50.4%).

The highest share of once-a-week interaction with neighbours was observed in Penang (50.3%), Melaka (47.6%) and Putrajaya (47.2%).

Meanwhile, Pakan (98.0%) and Bukit Mabong (96.3%) in Sarawak and Tongod, Sabah (97.5%) stood out as the friendliest districts due to their notably high proportions of daily interactions with neighbours.

Males spoke to neighbours more as compared to females daily, while females slightly outnumbered males for not having any interaction with neighbours in a month.

Shatar suggested that neighbours should engage each other through technology, such as through chat groups. “At least we can interact that way, even if not in person,” the Universiti Perguruan Sultan Idris academic told Utusan Malaysia. - FMT