6 Malaysian Couples Share Their Thoughts On Living With Parents After Marriage

"Joshua and I have been married for almost eight years. Both of us left our corporate jobs/small business two years ago and decided to move closer to our new place of work. It just so happened to be in the same area as where my mum works and where my sister lives. So when my mum and I chatted, we both ended up agreeing to move in together. Why? It saves time, saves money, and my parents can help watch the kids while the kids keep them entertained.

The best thing about living with parents is home-cooked dinners! They are always concerned about feeding my kids healthy food, but we don't always have the energy to cook, so my mom does that for us sometimes. It's always enjoyable to sit down and eat together and talk about our day."

- Sian Huey and Joshua.

"The hubby and I have never lived with our parents as a married couple. We both live and work in KL, while my parents are in Putrajaya and his parents are in JB. Logistically, it doesn't make sense to live with our folks. Plus, we're very private people who enjoy their own space and just like to keep to ourselves :) 

But saying that, we really wish our parents lived in the same neighbourhood as us. We have three kids and another on the way, so it would be wonderful to have our parents around to play with the children, and maybe help look after them once in a while so we can have a break. And of course, I would love to be able to pop over for dinner any day of the week just to lepak with them."

- Laila and Haikal.

"My fiancé and I are getting married next year and we plan to live with my parents. My siblings are studying overseas, so if I move out, my parents will be alone and I don't want that. Plus, financially it makes the most sense because my future hubby and I won't waste money on rent. Instead, we can save up because we plan to move into our own property. Our condo will be ready in three years! 

On top of that there are lots of added bonuses to living with my parents. For example, my kakak is there to help with house cleaning, home-cooked meals every day, and she's just the best!"

- Jenna and Darren.

"We've been married for over six years and my wife's parents live with us. They are originally from Melaka but moved to the Klang Valley to be closer to their grandchildren (my sister-in-law's kids), who live relatively near our home. My sister-in-law's place has limited space so my parents-in-law decided to stay with us.

My favourite thing about having them live with us is that the fridge is always full! My wife and I have very demanding careers and we hardly do any grocery shopping because we eat out a lot. With her parents around, there's always loads of food in our home."

- Aaron and Carol.

"Bob and I have been together forever and married for four years! In our first year of marriage, we lived with our parents... In fact, we alternated between my parents' house and his parents' house! It allowed us to spend more time with them before we found our own place. Neither of us had stayed on our own before getting married.

We decided to move out after a year because we felt like it was time we learned to be independent and stop living under our parents' ketiaks lol. Now that we're staying in our own place and we kinda have our own routines and systems in place, we probably wouldn't want to move back in (sorry parents, we love you, promise!). But we all live close to each other so now they come and sleep over at our place instead hehe :P"

- Julie and Bob.

"We're getting married in August! We've decided to live with his parents after marriage because we don't have enough funds to purchase a house for ourselves yet, and my husband doesn't believe in renting. He prefers to own a property so we can do renovations freely as we wish. 

To be honest, it's a little scary to be living with parents after marriage because I feel like I need to prove to my in-laws that I can do chores and things. And we won't really get the privacy newlyweds need. But I think it's a great opportunity to build a better relationship with them. If we lived away from them, we wouldn't see them every day, and we wouldn't talk. At least I am able to get to know them a little bit better, help out with things around the house, and show them that I am capable of doing my wifely duties."

- May and Armandt.