A pre-marriage course conducted by the MIC-linked Yayasan Strategik Sosial (YSS) for the Indian community is slow in taking off due to lack of participants.

Only three couples took part in the first course held in August while in another course held last Saturday, the number had increased to 10 pairs.

This is not enough, said YSS family development officer KA Gunah, who added that more must be done to encourage Indian couples to attend such courses.

One sure way, according to the YSS, is to make these courses compulsory. To achieve this, it plans to submit a proposal to the government soon.

Last Saturday's course was held at the Grand Pacific Hotel in Kuala Lumpur. YSS had anticipated at least 15 couples to participate.

Gunah said the low turn out could be due to ignorance about the courses - this despite numerous promotional activities, public talks and forums held at temples and wedding exhibitions to recruit couples.

The other major problem is in getting the couples to be interested in participating. Gunah said that the most popular excuses given by absentee couples include having no time, unable to get leave and some believe it's not necessary for them.

The course was funded by the National Population and Family Development Board (LPPKN).

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