OUR INTRODUCTION

Hello, we are the members of Group One. Nice to meet you. Our group consist of three members. During our campus life, we are happy living in our hometown, but we are happier now in University Putra Malaysia Bintulu Campus. So, we want to share with you all how we enjoy our excellent experience that we had join in the funny orientation week at UPMKB.

HANAMI

  Hanami is the Japanese traditional custom of enjoying the beauty of flowers. Usually “flower” is refer to cherry blossoms which also known as sakura. There is said to be about 300 different varieties of sakura, but the three most common ones are someiyoshino, usually planted in parks and along riverbanks, yamazakura grows wild in mountainous areas south from central Honshu, and shidarezakura often seen in temples. Hanami is one of the most popular events of spring. It occurs from mid January to early May. At that time, cherry blossoms bloom all over Japan. There are many kinds of cherry tree varieties in Japan, most of them bloom for just a couple of days in spring. The Japanese celebrate that time of the year with Hanami parties under the blooming trees. Hanami consists of having an outdoor party under the cheery blossoms tree. At that time, crowds of people like families, groups of friends, and groups from companies sit under the fully open cherry blossoms, usually on plastic tarps, and have a picnic celebration. The picnic fare consists of a wide variety of foods, snack foods, and sake (rice wine) or other drinks. The activities often include dancing and karaoke in addition to the cherry blossom viewing. In very popular places such as Ueno Park and Aoyama Cemetery in Tokyo the competition for prime picnic spots is intense. Company groups and family members claim spots by arriving very early in the morning and sitting all day long until the real celebrations begin in the evening. It is not unusual to see a young man in a business suit sitting under a cherry tree early in the morning reserving a space for his company. The new employees are traditionally given this job of sitting all day long to reserve space for the company celebration. At that time, they will having fun all the day. Surprisingly, as Hanami season approaches, the progresses of the Hanami are covered on TV and in the newspapers. 

Birth Rate in Malaysia

Year Birth rate (births/1,000 population)
2000 25.30
2001 24.75
2002 24.22
2003 23.70
2004 23.37
2005 23.07
2006 22.86
2007 22.65
2008 22.44

Year Birth rate Rank Percent Change Date of Information
2003 23.70 88 2003 est.
2004 23.07 86 -2.66 % 2004 est.
2005 23.07 86 0.00 % 2005 est.
2006 22.86 85 -0.91 % 2006 est.
2007 22.65 87 -0.92 % 2007 est.
2008 22.44 84 -0.93 % 2008 est.

There are a few factors affect birth rate in Malaysia. The factor that affects birth rate in Malaysia is natalism. Natalism is a belief that promotes human reproduction. Pronatalism is a promoting child-bearing. Antinatalism is a negative thinking of birth. The second factor is family planning. The family should know how to plan when to have children and the use of birth control. In this situation, usually female-male couple wish to limit the number of children they have or to control the timing of pregnancy also known as spacing children. Thirdly female literacy level also affects birth rate in Malaysia. The literacy level is considered to be the ability to use language to read and write, sometimes listen and speak. So, they have their own carrier and they do not depend on men and not concentrating on their family.

Furthermore, the rate of mortality is another factor. It has become the most common cause in infant mortality. The main reason that causes this situation is dehydration from diarrhoea. Fifth is urbanization which is physical growth of urban area from rural areas whereby money, service and wealth are centralized. As the result, more people are going for entertainment than to have family.

In addition, age of marriage is another factor that affects birth rate in Malaysia. Marriageable age or marriage age is the age at which a person is allowed to marry, either as of right or subject to parental or other forms of consent. The age and other requirements vary between countries. The marriage age should not be confused with the age of majority or the age of consent .In Malaysia the age of marriage is 18 to 21 with parental consent, 16 for female with special marriage license. People use to focus on their carrier before they want to form a family. Female usually have late marriage. Thus, it affects the birth rate. Moreover, conflict does affect the birth rate. This situation can be internal (within oneself) or external (between 2 or more individuals).Conflict is actual or perceived opposition of needs, values and interests. We predict the birth rate in Malaysia will continue to decrease due to these factors.

As a conclusion, government and all individuals in Malaysia should responsible to stabilize the population in Malaysia.