He said successive generations have seen families shrinking in size, with most younger parents nowadays choosing to have no more than two children.

As an example, Wee said his own parents come from families with 10 or more siblings, whereas he has five.

“And you can see that in my generation, the most we have is two to three kids, that’s all,” said Wee.

The former transport minister said one of the biggest concerns of parents nowadays is the high cost of tertiary education.

“I think most Chinese parents want to save money for their children’s future education. When you calculate the cost, you don’t really want to have too many children,” he said after officiating the launch of the Dato’ Teng Gaik Kwan Centre for Early Childhood Education.

Speaking to reporters following the event at the Tunku Abdul Rahman University of Management and Technology here, Wee said the declining birth rate was not limited to the Chinese community but cuts across all ethnicities.

On Tuesday, Bayan Baru MP Sim Tze Tzin raised concerns over whether Chinese vernacular schools (SJKC) could survive over the longer term given the declining birth rate within the community.

He said only 40,000 Chinese babies were born in 2022, making up less than 10% of the total 423,124 Malaysian babies born that year.

Wee said the number of children a couple decides to have is a personal choice and not a matter in which the government should intervene.

“The government cannot say you need to produce more babies.

“You have to face up to life’s challenges and provide your children with quality education. As a parent, you have to think twice (before committing to having more children),” he said.