honestly. just no

DSLR was not design for average user.
it more lile a prosumer/professional tools.

i practice photography.

i can shoot great photo with smartphone today.

the key problem was not the tools
is your photography skills......

Not sure how far you are going to zoom. No, a DSLR is not what you need, a Sony RX100 VII pocket cam would be ideal but not at your budget. Maybe a Huawei P30/P40 Pro but will still blur as shutter and image stabilisation could not keep up with motion.

That is pretty far, like those shooting sports around the football field or ice skating rink. 
To save money, better zoom with your feet. Let see if others have better suggestion.

my friend (not professional) bought DSLR. After a year, DSLR rotten in store. End up bought p30 pro. Pro wannabe but failed hard. what he used to do is, take photo with DSLR then edit. what's the point as you still edit the coloring etc.

moral of the stories, DSLR is not justified if you're not pro. moreover, it is big to carry everywhere. When u walk alot, even 0.5kg is still burdening to your neck.

Smartphones have very limited zoom capability. At most they have 3 dedicated zoom steps. Most only have 2 steps (1x and 2x) only. Anything in between would be hybrid zoom, not actual optical zoom.

I'm guessing your wife tried to zoom all the way. Even on normal cameras, this would probably step into the digital zoom, which means quality degrades the more you zoom it.

I'm no pro photographer myself. But I understand the feeling of wanting to get closer to the subject. And when I zoom, I am always cautious that the camera doesn't step into the digital zoom mode.

I've had zoom cameras in the past, from 5x and up to 15x optical...but it seems that you can never have enough zoom lense. There will always be a case of needing more zoom.

You going to that DSLR few times and later collect dust.
After all the hassle of bringing DSLR around.

The more entry level it is, the more difficult to capture photos.

From what I've used so far, a camera like Canon Powershot G7X III at around RM 2.4k will do a better job.

Face focus and all with burst mode, best way to capture kid photos without breaking your bank account.

Not really. you could get a really good quality let's say m43 camera with a kit lens for around <RM2k. (unless you think that in itself is expensive... but I'm working around your quoted budget of RM3k) Shop around a little bit and you'll be surprised. THe Olympus EPL series are fairly affordable, if you look at the Canon EOS M, xxxxD series, or the Nikon D3xxx series, they are also fairly cheaper models falling around the <RM2k budget. You don't look like you're going to invest a lot in lenses, so you want an ecosystem where the cheaper glass is decent, abundant, and widely available. All the other brands have fantastic quality as long as you are willing to spend a little bit more. nothing wrong with kit lenses though.

This is just purely my own calculation:

EPL-9+14-42mm ez = RM2000
40-150mm f4-5.6 = RM500
= RM2500 (this is a high quotation just based on shopee/lazada pricing) You could actually find it cheaper. I've seen the 40-150mm go for around RM300. <-- the online shops have physical shops in KL if you don't mind visiting them and feel it's safer. I also recommend that you go to the shop instead of online shopping, cause I know touching/feeling them is a major part of the purchase process.

that would satisfy I think the majority of your shooting needs already. Again, just trying to say you can get things way below your budget that serves your desire to 'zoom in closer'; not a BIG and HEAVY setup; user-friendly (the EPL series, or other brand equivalents are catered for new users).... but dang, after I say that, nothing wrong with more advanced users carrying a lighter setup eh? hahahaha

If you go to reputable camera stores with a good used section, you could get started even cheaper... but I know for a person who is new to this, dwelling in the used market is quite daunting. At the store, you could even CCM if you find the RM2k budget a bit higher than what you would like.

Damn I sound like a sales man... hahaha

Cheers mate. I too had the same 'curiousness' way back then. Now I'm at the deep end of the GAS pool.   

https://camerasize.com/compact/

Can go to this website to compare sizes and attach lens to gauge your expectations of how big/small it is.

To many people, size and portability is of great importance