A Lesson to be Learnt: Are we following India's Family Planning Blindly?
- Part 1 -

Dr. Ngangbam Shantikumar Meetei & Chen Nan-Tai *

Family Planning symbol used in India : Pix Source - Wikipedia

Manipur is the best place to be born in India, 2012

In 2012, Manipur has burst into the scene to become the best place to be born in India along with Goa. For every 1,000 live births, 11 die in Manipur as compared to 59 in Madhya Pradesh, which ranks as the worst place in the country to be born. The infant mortality rate (IMR) in Manipur has dipped to 11 in 2011 as against 14 in 2010. Food and Medicare systems are better now not only in Manipur but also in other states of India, except few poorest states (June 3, 2013, The Sangai Express). But what are the important reasons to make Manipur the best place to be born?

In 1996, in my (me, Chen Nan-Tai) first visit to Imphal, Manipur with my fiancee (Dr. Ngangbam Shantikumar Meetei), for the first time I met his family. It was a very big family, which had his three elder brothers' families, my father-in-law and a lot of grandchildren. I was very surprised. When I met my future father-in-law, my fiancée and I knell down to the ground and bowed. I followed my fiancée to touch my future father-inlaw's feet with our hands. At that my heart trembled and my tears almost rolled down from my eyes. I had been taught to respect the elders but I never did like that whole in my life before I came to Manipur.

Taiwanese don't do it now except we see in movies or soap dramas, stories happened long, long time ago among ancient Chinese people. In our Taiwanese modern culture we don't do it anymore. But I felt love from my father-in-law this way and I also felt so much of respect for elders in my heart. I was willing to do it. Then I was warmly welcomed by our neighborhood. They had the same family type.

I was even more surprised. "This is a very typical family in Manipur, very traditional and very functional", I thought. One scene is still very clear till now. I remember one day I saw a grandpa, who lived across from our house; he carried his grandchild on his back. I saw him carrying the child on his back almost every day. There was so much of love for the child, and it was so good for the child. How lucky to have a grandpa with him! Such beautiful culture and tradition could be lost if Manipuries continue to follow other cultures or India's family planning.

Birth control in Taiwan since 1968 up to 1980s

In 1951, the average Taiwanese woman would have seven children. The family planning had been carried on from 1968 till 1980s. According to the Population Reference Bureau's 2009 report, Taiwan has now surpassed both Macau and Hong Kong, which have held the lowest spots on the world chart for the past five years, concerning low birth rate. In 2009, Taiwan had the lowest birth rate in the world, with only one baby born per woman.

Taiwan's Health Minister Yaung Chih-liang warned that if the island continues on this track, the population would experience a future labor shortage and that the next generation of children would have significant difficult covering the health costs of their aging parents. That intense financial pressure, he said, could raise the future suicide rate. (Nov 28th, 2009)

Aging problems grow rapidly in Taiwan

Taiwan has one of the fastest aging populations in the world. In 2007, the number of people in Taiwan's working-age population (ages 15 to 64) who support one person over 65, was 7-to-1. While the world potential support ratio for 2050 is projected at 4-to-1, Taiwan's PSR will be 1.5-to-1. This question becomes even more pressing in light of accompanying labor shortages, reduced economic growth, and greatly increased costs for care of the elderly, not to mention existing National Health Insurance and Labor Insurance deficits. (July 17, 2009, Taiwan Today)

Individualism vs. family values: Taiwanese marry late, giving birth less

Taiwanese society is like a sponge that has become saturated with a foreign culture during its evolution. Since people here had a first taste of western culture family values have noticeably changed, especially during the past decade when the island's economy began to expand. A growing appetite for material goods and other stimulants leads people to spend less time with their family and to devote themselves to personal pleasures (Taijing Wu, Mercator net, 2006).

Divorced couples is increasing in Taiwan

In 1981, there were 14,897 couples ended in divorce. Then in 1997, there were 38,986 couples divorced. The divorced couples significantly increase. While the married couples remain at certain point around 150,000 or more. There are many factors why divorce cases increase. One of the relevant causes is nuclear family, in which the couples are easy to break in small things. As the couples are the only adults in the family, there are no one to stop or judge or ask them to compromise or back up.

Everyone thinks he or she is right. But in the large family, there are many other elders who can help them to calm down. There are usually less kids in the nuclear family that is another reason to break down the small family. Might be, economically, nuclear families are better off than the joint families or stem families. But it doesn't mean the couples are safe from divorce. Too much independence economically from each other is one reason why many couples end up divorced.

Poor, lonely old people in Taiwan

Nearly 2,800 seniors sought assistance as a result of abuse, neglect or abandonment in 2010, according to the latest government data, up from 2,100 in 2009. Traditional Chinese culture attaches great importance to filial piety and male adults, even married ones, normally lived with their parents to look after them. Raising a child means safety in old age, according to a popular saying, and that used to be true. Large families were the norm.

In Taiwan, the present government is considering a bill to jail adults who fail to look after their elderly parents for up to one year, following a rise in the number of abandonment cases.

Taiwan seeks baby-boosting slogan while Manipur follows family planning blindly

Taiwan seeks baby-boosting slogan. In March, the Taiwanese authorities announced they were seeking a new slogan to boost the island's falling birth-rate and offered a cash prize for the best submission. (Tania Branigan, Taipei, 2012) The interior ministry in Taiwan organizes matchmaking activities for its unmarried staff to improve the birth rate, one of the lowest in the world.

In Taiwan, kids after the first two get free government health insurance. Our third and fourth kids are getting free health insurance from Taiwan government.

Of course Manipur Government has to provide incentives and other welfare programs to encourage parents to have more kids. Only asking the couples to give birth more kids is not good enough.

To be continued....