Malaysian official pushes early marriage
Source: Agencies |
August 6, 2010, Friday
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A PROMINENT Malaysian official yesterday encouraged young Muslim teenagers to get married if they cannot resist having sex and promised money to help them start a family - a stance that drew criticism from women's rights activists.
Mohamad Ali Rustam, chief minister of southern Malacca State, said this could help reduce a growing problem of babies being abandoned by girls who have unwanted pregnancies.
Muslims are permitted to marry after reaching puberty in Malaysia, as long as they obtain consent from their parents and Islamic Shariah courts. Nearly two-thirds of Malaysia's 28 million people are Muslim.
For non-Muslim Malaysians, however, girls must be at least 16 and boys 18 to marry.
Underage marriages are not common, and authorities have voiced concern that unmarried teenagers are having sex, sometimes resulting in young mothers killing or abandoning their babies.
Encouraging teenagers to marry could be "a good way to solve the problem" of babies being dumped, Mohamad Ali said.
Officials in Malacca plan to start providing 500 ringgit (US$160) in financial help to young couples who want to get married. They are also considering building a special school for girls who become pregnant, since regular schools would expel them, Mohamad Ali said.
Women's rights activists criticized Mohamad Ali's views, which he first expressed to Malaysian media earlier this week. "It's a regressive move. ... We all know that child marriages are an aberration," said Ivy Josiah, executive director of the Women's Aid Organization, a private group.
Mohamad Ali Rustam, chief minister of southern Malacca State, said this could help reduce a growing problem of babies being abandoned by girls who have unwanted pregnancies.
Muslims are permitted to marry after reaching puberty in Malaysia, as long as they obtain consent from their parents and Islamic Shariah courts. Nearly two-thirds of Malaysia's 28 million people are Muslim.
For non-Muslim Malaysians, however, girls must be at least 16 and boys 18 to marry.
Underage marriages are not common, and authorities have voiced concern that unmarried teenagers are having sex, sometimes resulting in young mothers killing or abandoning their babies.
Encouraging teenagers to marry could be "a good way to solve the problem" of babies being dumped, Mohamad Ali said.
Officials in Malacca plan to start providing 500 ringgit (US$160) in financial help to young couples who want to get married. They are also considering building a special school for girls who become pregnant, since regular schools would expel them, Mohamad Ali said.
Women's rights activists criticized Mohamad Ali's views, which he first expressed to Malaysian media earlier this week. "It's a regressive move. ... We all know that child marriages are an aberration," said Ivy Josiah, executive director of the Women's Aid Organization, a private group.
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