Malaysians’ obsession with mobile technology and constantly wanting to keep up with their social media circles has caused many married couples in the country to break up.
Associate Professor Dr Mariani Mohd Nor, dean of Universiti Malaya’s Education Faculty, also said that instant messaging platforms such as WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger have replaced face-to-face conversations as how married couples resolve their conflicts.
“WhatsApp helps to forge closer ties among family members, but it has been abused, especially by the young generation,” the psychologist told Bernama.
“When they express anger by sending messages in WhatsApp, it can give a different perception and intonation from what is actually intended by the sender.”
Since 2010, there have been 274,000 cases of divorce from among Muslim-Malay population.
Data from the Malaysian Syariah Judicial Department showed that between January and August 2015 alone, 38,035 couples filed for divorce, setting an average of 156 Muslim couples splitting up every day.
Dr Mariani cautioned Malaysians against dropping their inhibitions online, as flirting and posting inapprpriate content over social networks can lead to marital dischord.
