Hi all, just wanted to ask your advice on this.

I was invited by a friend (girl) at work for dinner at her place together with 2 other friends (from work as while, but I only know them by name & face). I am thinking of declining as I don't want to upset my girlfriend, but I really wanted to go as it will be a gathering of Malaysians.

To put into context, I am currently living in the UK and my girlfriend is from China. We've been together for almost 7 years now, engaged and planning to get married in a year. But sometimes, she can be emotionally insecure and gets jealous easily and whenever we have arguments, she'll end up saying things like "why don't you find a 同乡 (fellow countrymen) to be with" or "why don't you go back to your ex" or "why don't you find someone younger / cuter" etc.

Because of this, I'm very self-aware whenever making friends. Before moving to the UK, I have 2 very close colleagues at work (girl) in which I have no romantic attraction to whatsoever - only gratitude because they helped me out a lot when I first started - but had to make things cordial just because my girlfriend is jealous of them. Here, I try not to be so friendly with girls and only know this one Malaysian girl in the office next door. We're just normal work acquaintances, and because it's a small building after all, she introduced me to the 2 other Malaysians in the building. Oh, and all 3 of them are Malaysian Chinese if that helps.

I think as are typical of Malaysian overseas, we like to have gatherings and cook local food that we miss - which is what this dinner is about. I'm looking forward to eat local food and just talk together as fellow Malaysians, but I'm just afraid to go because I don't want to upset my girlfriend.

What do forumers here think? Should I go? How can guys make close friends with the opposite gender without inciting jealousy from their partner - is it impossible?

Thank you.

ps. Please no flaming comments like "why you chose someone from China" or "you should just break up" or something similar without knowing me nor my circumstance. I genuinely wanted advice on how to navigate this, understand a women's heart and whether it is improper for attached men to have friends from the opposite gender.

Thanks everyone for the feedback. Just to be clear - I'm not expecting an answer here, but just wanted some general advice & if possible, get a girl's perspective on this. Anyway, closing this topic now - thanks everyone who replied.