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Sometimes I wonder whether our politicians have any brains! First they say NO to sex education claiming that it will only increase sex related activities. Then, when they realise that the number of “official” unwed mothers and baby dumping activities has gone up, without looking at the root of the problem, our Malacca government decided to take a “knee-jerk” reaction. Why worry, just ask them to get married lah………………….

 

I have said in my earlier post some time ago that sweeping the problem under the carpet is not going to solve anything. Everyone of us knows the severity of these premarital sex issues among our people. It is a global phenomenon. Despite that, our politicians, due to political pressure, decided to ignore the fact. Each one of them wants to be more Islamic than the other. The official figure that is quoted is probably not even 1/5 of the actual numbers. In my wife’s government clinic, situated in a suburban area, there is atlest 1-2 unwed single mothers almost every week or two. Of course don’t forget those who abort and hide the pregnancy!

 

Now, our genius Malacca CM have decided to get them married. Firstly, how is he going to decide who is the father of the unborn child? Interesting question! Then he finds one guy who supposedly the father of the unborn child and ask him to marry her. She is 14 years old and he is 16 years old. Great , now they get married and live happily ever after……………………… story closed??????????????? But Oh NO!!!! he just realised that both of them are still studying and have no income!!! WTH, nevermind, leave the baby with your mother and con’t studying. Since you have legalised child marriage, the husband can continue to make babies (no contraception mah, NO SEX EDUCATION PLS). She will get pregnant again and again and there goes her education. Then when the husband finishes his “so-called” education, he will marry someone else. The first child bride will be abandoned to survive on her own! But of course, our CM is happy as no baby dumping and no unwed mothers, everything is solved from statistical point of view

 

Interesting movie to make, I hope Yasmin Ahmad was still alive to make such movies………………………..

 

 

 

Malacca’s decision to allow child marriages caused an outcry today, with rights groups condemning new rules that allow Muslim girls below 16 years to wed. 

The decision by the Islamic religious council in Malacca has been billed as an attempt to curb premarital sex and baby dumping, after a string of cases of newborns being abandoned.

“Child marriage amounts to paedophilia. We should not condone child marriages,” said Ivy Josiah (left), executive director of leading activist group Women’s Aid Organisation.

Malacca Chief Minister Mohamad Ali Rustam reportedly said that marriages for Muslims below the current minimum age of 16 years for females and 18 for males would be allowed with the permission of parents and religious courts.

Ali Rustam (left), who is the chairman of the influential state Islamic council, said the plan would reduce the number of cases of babies born out of wedlock and cut incidents of adultery.

“It is a practical move in preventing cases of unwed teenage mothers and other social problems,” he was was quoted as saying by the New Straits Times newspaper Wednesday.

The report said that in the first six months of the year, 174 Muslim women gave birth outside wedlock in the state. All were below 20 years old.

‘Morally and socially unacceptable’

In Malaysia, Muslims make up about 60 percent of the 28 million population and are subject to religious syariah law which operates in parallel with the civil legal system.

Malacca earlier announced that the state would open a special school for Muslim girls who become pregnant out of wedlock, a move that also came under fire from rights groups.

“This is a knee-jerk reaction, and such policies should not be carved out by state religious authorities but the federal Ministries of Women, Education, and Health,” said Josiah.

Josiah said that Malaysia recognises those aged under 18 years as children, and that allowing them to marry early would deprive them of an education and the right to choose a partner.

“It is really a regressive move. It is turning back the clock. This man (the chief minister) should resign,” she said.

Shahrizat Abdul Jalil (right), the minister for women, family and community development, said that underage marriage was “morally and socially unacceptable”.

“Placing the heavy burden and responsibility of parenthood on children can deprive them of their rights to a full and harmonious development,” she said.

The number of underage pregnancies in Malaysia rose to 111 in the first four months of this year from 107 in 2008, according to government numbers.

Recent cases of babies being abandoned by their unwed mothers have led the Malaysian government to set up its first baby “hatch”, where mothers can drop off unwanted children anonymously.

Meanwhile, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Jamil Khir Baharom said that permission to marry for under-aged students is not across the board but determined on a case-by-case basis.

“Under Islamic enactments for marriage, the minimum age is 18 for males and 16 for females but there can be exceptions.

“As such, the action by the Melaka Islamic Religious Council to permit under-age marriage is provided for under the law but has to be done on a case-by-case basis,” he told reporters after witnessing the signing of a memorandum of agreement (MOA) between the Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim) and 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

The MOA allows Jakim to manage 1MDB scholarships for students from religious schools.

– Agencies