Interfaith body lauds Nazri's assurance on end to unilateral conversion

The Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism (MCCBCHST) has welcomed Tourism and Culture Minister Nazri Aziz’s statement that amendments to the Law Reform (Marriage and divorce) Act 1976 will do away with unilateral conversions.

"The MCCBCHST’s consistent stand has been that to ensure justice and to abide by the constitution, there can be no unilateral conversion of minors.

"That is, both parties to the marriage must consent before a minor can be converted to another religion," said its vice-president Jagir Singh in a statement.

This, the group said, is consistent with the cabinet's April 2009 decision that requires both parents to give consent before a child of a civil marriage can be converted to another religion.

Yesterday, Nazri told a news portal that the LRA amendments will eventually do away with the thorny issue of unilateral conversion.

Jagir noted this is the first time since 2009 that a minister has stated that the earlier cabinet decision will be adhered to.

He related that MCCBCHST lawyers previously faced deadlocks in meetings with the Attorney-General's Chambers in 2010, 2012 and 2014, where the proposed amendments to the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) 1976 (LRA) still allowed for the unilateral conversion of a minor.

"MCCBCHST could not agree to such unilateral conversion being allowed," he stressed.

Long wait for justice

Jagir mentioned two cases, that of non-Muslim spouses Indira Gandhi and S Deepa, whose husbands converted to Islam, which have been fought through the courts for the last seven years.

In Deepa's case, the contention was over the matter of the dissolution of marriage and child custody under a civil marriage when one spouse converts to Islam.

Indira's case meanwhile concerns unilateral conversion of children conceived under a civil marriage.

Jagir said in Deepa’s case, the court had delivered judgement in January that “the civil court had the exclusive jurisdiction to grant decrees of divorce of a civil marriage under the LRA and to make all other ancillary orders".

The Federal Court had further stated it would be an abuse of the process for the spouse who has converted to Islam to file for dissolution of the marriage and for custody of the children in the syariah courts.

Jagir posited that with the decision in Deepa’s case, the only thorny issue left was whether a single parent could convert a child without the other parent’s consent.

The courts meanwhile have to decide in Indira’s appeal to the Federal Court on the status of her children's conversion by her convert husband.

The case, Jagir said, will be heard on Nov 15, although he hoped Nazri's announcement may render the matter academic, if indeed what the minister has said is passed into law.

End to loophole hoped

MCCBCHST expressed its confidence that if the unilateral conversion loophole is closed off, then there would be no more cases like Indira and Deepa in the future.

Indira's and Deepa's cases are landmarks in the fight by MCCBCHST and those who are seeking to ensure that unilateral conversions will not take place to the detriment of the non-Muslim spouse, who at present find they have no locus standi to challenge any arising legal decision in the syariah courts.

This is because some Muslim converts from a civil marriage have used the loophole of unilaterally converting their children to Islam, and then proceeded to file motions of custody in the syariah courts where their non-Muslim spouses do not have the standing for legal representation.

MIC hopes LRA amendments will end disputes

KUALA LUMPUR: MIC president Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam hopes that the amendments to the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act 1976 will put to rest the disputes and conflicts between civil and Syariah laws and overlapping jurisdiction on interfaith child custody.

“We have been vigorously voicing these issues for many years and we are happy to see the fruits of our efforts. I have raised this matter at Cabinet meetings on several occasions and have personally met the Attorney-General and presented our views and suggestions to resolve this matter,” he said in a statement.

Dr. Subramaniam, who is also the Health Minister and part of a five-member committee to look into the interfaith custody issue, said he was pleased that the amendments will be tabled in Parliament in October and finally resolve this problem.

“We will request a briefing from the Attorney-General’s Chambers on these amendments and will put forward appropriate views if necessary to ensure a solution,” he said.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said divorce matters that involved civil marriages must be settled in a civil court even if one of the spouses converts to Islam, under legal reforms to be tabled in Parl­i­­a­­­­­­­m­ent in October.

In announcing changes to the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act 1976 (LRA), he said: “Any vacuum or overlap in existing laws can be resolved once changes are made to the Act.”

Malaysian Consultative Council Of Buddhism, Christianity, Hin­duism, Sikhism and Taoism secretary-general Prematilaka Seriseni said the Government’s proposal still did not address the problem of unilateral conversion of children.

He said the amendments were nothing new and only “mouths” the February 2016 Federal Court decision on the S. Deepa-versus-Izwan Abdullah custody battle where it was determined that the Syariah court had no jurisdiction over the dissolution of marriages even if one spouse had converted to Islam.

Amid all the legal inconsistencies, Prematilaka urged Najib to clear the air on the Government’s ban on unilateral conversions.

“The PM needs to follow his own Cabinet decision in 2009 and address this problem. We need to stop any parent from converting their children without consent of the other,” he said.

Meanwhile, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom welcomed Najib’s amendment proposals, claiming it would put to rest disputes that may arise when one spouse converts to Islam.

More still needs to be done to resolve unilateral conversion of minors

The G25 warmly welcomes the announcement by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak at the launch of the National Women’s Day celebrations on Aug 25, 2016, that the cabinet has agreed to amendments to the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce ) Act 1976 ( Act 164 ).

According to the prime minister, the proposed amendments are scheduled to be tabled by the Home Ministry at the next sitting of the Dewan Rakyat in October this year.

The prime minister said that Act 164 would be amended based on three core principles.

The first is that any issue relating to divorce where the marriage had been solemnised under civil law , must be settled in the civil court.

This is to ensure that ancillary matters such as child custody rights and child maintenance until higher education are protected and assured.

The second principle is universal justice, whereby the amendments to the Act will give both parties the opportunity to resolve civil marriage issues at the civil court.

The third principle is the resolution of conflicts between the civil court and the Shariah Court where one party converts to Islam.

The amendments aim to overcome legal loopholes and overlap in existing laws.

The G25 is hopeful that the amendments to Act 164 will put to an end the injustices suffered by non-Muslim wives in the numerous cases that have come before the civil court since the Shamala case in 2004, where the husband converts to Islam and, to compound matters, converts the infant children of the marriage without the consent of the wife.

The common factor in all these cases was that the unilateral conversion was done to spite the wife and deny her custody of the children.

The relevant provision of the federal constitution in respect to the religion of a minor is Article 12(4).

This provision states :-

12(4) For the purposes of Clause (3), the religion of a person under the age of eighteen years shall be decided by his parent or guardian.

However, the Federal Court decision in the case of Subashini in 2008, has compounded the problem for the mothers in such cases because it ruled that “parent” means either parent and not both parents.

The Bar Council and many legal experts are of the view that the Federal Court ruling in the above case is wrong.

Article 160 of the federal constitution explains the rules of interpretation .

The Eleventh Schedule under section 2 (94) and (95) state that words importing the masculine gender include females and words in the singular include plural and vice versa.

It is also to be noted that until 2002 , the Bahasa Malaysia version of the federal constitution, as published by the government printers, translated the word “parent” as “ibu bapa”.

However, in the 2002 edition, the word “parent” was translated as “ibu atau bapa”.
Clearly, for the word “ibu bapa “ to be changed to “ ibu atau bapa” would require an amendment to the Federal Constitution.

But from what could be ascertained, there has been no such amendment.

In light of the above, the G25 would urge the government to amend Article 12(4) of the Federal Constitution in order to nullify the Federal Court decision in the Subashini case and make it very clear that the word “parent” in the above Article means both parents and not just a single parent.

In the meantime, we would also urge the government to rectify the mistake made by the government printers in the Bahasa Malaysia version of the federal constitution and restore the translation of “parent” to the original “ibu bapa”.

The G25 sincerely hopes that the government will at the same time address the controversial issue of unilateral conversion of minors by one parent without the consent of the other parent .

At present this is allowed under the existing Federal Territories Islamic Law Enactment and several other state Islamic law Enactments.

However, in April 2009 the Cabinet had decided that children of parents where one of them chooses to convert to Islam, must continue to be raised in the common religion at the time of the marriage.

Enforce cabinet decision on conversion

In this regard we urge the federal government and the relevant state governments to translate the above-mentioned cabinet decision into law by amending the Federal Territories Islamic Law Enactment 1993 and the relevant state Islamic law enactments by making it a requirement for both parents to consent to the conversion of their child /children.

This would be in line with the third core principle announced by the prime minister of resolving conflicts between civil and syariah courts where one party to a marriage converts to Islam, and will put into practice the government’s intention to overcome legal loopholes and overlap in existing laws.

Our objection to the idea of unilateral conversion of minors to Islam, is that, besides being unfair to non-Muslims, it entrenches inequalities in Malaysia and does so in the name of Islam.

It implies that a Muslim parent, even if newly converted, has more rights than a non-Muslim parent.

This is contrary to Article 8 of the federal constitution which guarantees that all persons are equal before the law and entitled to the equal protection of the law.

This article further provides that there shall be no discrimination against citizens on the grounds only of religion, race, descent, place of birth or gender, in any law.

We note that in all the cases of unilateral conversion of children following the father’s conversion to Islam, the Islamic authorities had allowed the conversion apparently without inquiring into the background of the husband involved and without giving the wife the opportunity to be heard.

In this respect, we would urge the Islamic authorities to undertake the proper investigations in order to determine the real reason for the person wishing to convert.

This may prevent would-be converts from using conversion to escape his responsibilities to his family under civil law, thus abusing the right to convert and making a mockery of Islam.

We would further urge the Islamic authorities concerned to guide the convert on the path of righteousness and prevent him from denying the rights of his non-Muslim wife and that of their children.

Indeed, good and righteous conduct on the part of husbands and fathers towards their wives and children are enjoined in the Quran.

Finally, the G25 also welcomes the announcement by the prime minister of the setting-up of a task force to study the issue of sex crimes, especially rape, involving children.

This is timely given the reported rise in sexual crimes against children.

We hope that the task force will recommend the setting-up of a register of sex offenders and to make it an offence to be in possession of child pornographic materials.

G25 is a group of retired Malay top senior civil servants.

Kula bids guarded welcome to Najib move

DAP Ipoh Barat MP M Kulasegaran hailed the government’s move to have interfaith disputes besetting civil marriages resolved in a civil court as a “crucial dent to an otherwise relentless drift towards syariah law in the country”.

Counsel to kindergarten teacher M Indira Gandhi, perhaps the most poignant victim of the tug-of-war between civil and Islamic jurisdictions that has in recent years roiled race-cum-religious relations in Malaysia, Kulasegaran said:

“Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s disclosure that amendments to the Law Reform Act 1976 on marriage and divorce will be tabled in October’s sitting of Parliament is balm for battered hearts, especially in cases where estranged parents fight for the custody of children who have been converted to Islam by a converted spouse.”

He said the proposed admendments to enable child custody disputes in civilly-contracted marriages to be resolved in civil courts under the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act 1976 was the “only logical nostrum for a troubled scenario, where the application of supremacist religious principles inevitably means civil ones are trolled”.

Kulasegaran cautioned that the PM's disclosure, on National Women’s Day yesterday, that balm was coming for the fraught issue of mothers left bereft of their surreptiously converted children by an abruptly converted father should not be taken as a fait accompli.

“The forces of religious reaction may yet intervene to derail matters - let’s hope they don't and if they do, they don’t succeed, because this has been a hopelessly protracted issue that cries out for the civil remedy now proposed by the government,” said the lawyer-legislator.

Kulasegaran has, since 2009, been counsel to Indira, whose three children were converted to Islam by her estranged husband after he himself converted to Islam.

Her struggle for the custody and her right to determine the religion of her children has become a cause celebre.

The pre-school teacher had applied to the civil courts for relief of her predicament but remedies she obtained on occasion turned out to be transient as syariah imperatives supervened to trump civil considerations.

“I hope we are about to witness a crucial dent to an otherwise relentless drift towards syariah law in this country,” observed Kulasegaran.

“Being neither an optimist nor a pessimist, I wait to see the fine print on the proposed amendments to the 1976 law before I can say for sure a stall has been dealt to the forces pushing for theocracy in this country,” he asserted.

Data reveals 80,000 married teens in M’sia

UN says early marriage is denying young people their basic rights to reach their full potential academically and socially.

FMT

KUALA LUMPUR: A United Nations report has revealed a 2010 Malaysian population census showing that there was a total of 80,000 young girls and 70,000 young boys between the ages of 15-19 who were already married.

Speaking at the launch of the report entitled “The power of 1.8 billion: adolescents, youth and the transformation of the future”, UN resident coordinator in Malaysia Michelle Gyles-McDonnough said, “Early marriage denies young people the basic right to the full realisation of their potential and better options must be made available to Malaysian youth.”

Michelle also said that starting a family this young caused these kids to abandon their studies with many never finishing their basic education much less pursuing higher studies.

Besides this clear drawback, other damning data showed 44,000 children of school-going age had never even attended school as of 2009.

She remarked, ”This has certain negative implications on their future, creating situations that will cost much more to solve than if the problem is averted at its inception.”

She added that this left Malaysia’s young deficient in the proper skills to become productive members in the country’s labour market, more so since Malaysia was working towards achieving high-income nation status.

Another aspect of the report dealt with teen pregnancies and unemployment among the young including reports of mounting social problems stemming from an acute lack of information and services pertaining to sexual and reproductive health.

In her address, Michelle remarked that a 2010 UNGASS Country Progress Report also showed that in 2009, 477 girls under 15 years old underwent pre-marital HIV screening including two who were under 10 years old.

She said, ”If we have children as young as 10 registering for pre-marital counselling, then you have a problem here.”

Michelle added, ”We need to create opportunities for our young to find their place as leaders, innovators, change-agents and entrepreneurs of the future.

“The State of World Population report emphasises that one point – that investments in young people, particularly young women and adolescent girls – has the potential to unleash the power for greater human development and advancement.”

MP urges Putrajaya to fix mininum age for marriage – Bernama

An opposition Member of Parliament today called on the the government to fix the minimum age for young couples to get married so as to stop child marriages.

Teo Nie Ching (DAP-Kulai, pic) claimed that besides not attending school any more there was high incidence of divorce which had had a negative impact on the children.

She said although existing laws allowed Malaysians from 16 to 18 years to marry, there were situations which allowed them to enter wedlock at a younger age.

"We can no longer afford to see our young getting married at 11 or 12 years of age. This is one issue that needs immediate attention," she said when debating the Supply Bill 2015 in the Dewan Rakyat today.

Teo said the government had adopted the resolution by the United Nations to stop child marriages in October last year, but there were no clear measures for its implementation in this country.

"The time has come to ensure that children in this country, regardless of religion do not marry until the reach the age of maturity," she said.

She also questioned the logic of giving children the freedom to choose their spouse at a young age when they were not even allowed to have a driving licence or to vote because they had not reached the permitted age.

At the same time, Teo also urged that the allocation to the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development be increased as much of it was spent on social welfare and not just on women.

The Dewan sits again tomorrow. – Bernama, October 29, 2014.

- See more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/mp-urges-putrajaya-to-fix-mininum-age-for-marriage-bernama#sthash.o9LGlrdl.dpuf

Another man in a songkok

In the old days kids of 10 or 11 went to war and at 14 or 15 they were veteran soldiers and at 18 were considered old (by 40 many were already dead). That was more than 1,000 years ago. So at 14 they got married, even in the west.

NO HOLDS BARRED
Raja Petra Kamarudin

The height of a man’s songkok is not a measurement of his piety, says the PAS spiritual leader, Tok Guru Nik Aziz Nik Mat. Nik Aziz was of course referring to the songkok-clad PERKASA leaders.

In fact, a songkok makes a man an Indian because the songkok originated from India, not Malaysia. So the PERKASA people should be screaming Ketuanan India rather than Ketuanan Melayu.

Now another man with a songkok -- the Jakim director-general -- has decreed that child marriages are kosher. Imagine children of the age of 14 can get married but they are not old enough to vote. You can trust them to have children and raise a family but you can’t trust them to vote.

And they say we are insulting Islam.

By the way, this man, Wan Mohamad Sheikh Abdul Aziz, was one of those who made a police report against me that resulted in my ISA detention back in 2008.

Okay, is Wan Mohamad Sheikh Abdul Aziz now going to defend slavery? Slavery is legal in Islam and has never been banned. Ask any ulamak and he or she can tell you that Islam never banned slavery. Therefore, you can legally keep slaves.

The hadith also says that a man can have sex with his female slaves. Sex outside marriage is illegal in Islam. In fact, all you need to do is to be alone with a woman or girl who is not your wife and that is enough to get you arrested -- even if you did not lay a finger on her.

According to the hadith, a slave is a man’s property and you can do whatever you like with your property. You can therefore have sex with your slave.

Let’s hear what Wan Mohamad Sheikh Abdul Aziz has to say about this since he feels marriage with a minor is allowed in Islam.

In the old days kids of 10 or 11 went to war and at 14 or 15 they were veteran soldiers and at 18 were considered old (by 40 many were already dead). That was more than 1,000 years ago. So at 14 they got married, even in the west.

Times, however, have changed. Today, although slavery has never been banned in Islam, no one keeps slaves any longer. Should a marriage of a 14 year old therefore also be allowed? If the answer is yes then slavery should also be allowed in Malaysia and the slave owners can have sex with their property, the slaves.

Aiyah, when I talk like this they make police reports against me and detain me without trial. But how not to talk like this when those songkok-clad people keep making silly statements?

************************************

Jakim defends child marriages

(Free Malaysia Today) - The Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (Jakim) sees nothing wrong in child marriage if the wedding is bound “by love between couples”.

Going against the tide of resentment triggered recently by the marriage of a 14-year-old Muslim schoolgirl in a mass wedding, Jakim stressed that the practice was now widely accepted and considered “reasonable”.

Jakim director-general, Wan Mohamad Sheikh Abdul Aziz, said child marriage should not cause any problem, especially if the wedding was bound "by the love between couples”.

"The main issue is whether it violates Islamic law and the laws of Malaysia... but if there are elements of coercion, we must conduct an investigation,” he told FMT via a text message yesterday.

He, however, said that given the growing social problems among Muslims, such type of marriage should be encouraged.

"We ought to encourage marriage and not frighten the young people who want to get married," said Wan Mohammad.

Furthermore, he believed that pre-marriage courses introduced by Jakim since 1992 have helped many young couples to get through their married life, including the schoolgirl who tied the knot with a man doubled her age.

"The public may have objected to this idea at first, but now it (child marriage) is already widely accepted as a reasonable move," he said.

Civil rights groups have described such practice as “unacceptable” and have continuously called for restraint by religious courts empowered to approve underage marriage.

As there are many underaged unions that go unreported, the matter involving the schoolgirl only came to light when she and her husband participated in a mass wedding celebration at the Federal Territory mosque on Dec 4.

According to news reports, schoolgirl Siti Maryam Mahmod married 23-year-old schoolteacher Abdul Manan Othman last Saturday, after being given permission in a Syariah Court.

Raise the minimum age of marriage

Activist group, Sisters in Islam (SIS), which disagreed with underage marriage, proposed that the government raise the minimum age of marriage to 18 years for all Malaysians.

SIS spokesperson Yasmin Masidi said in a statement yesterday that the onset of puberty did not mean that the person has attained sufficient maturity for marriage.

"While the Quran does not state a specific age as the age of marriage, Surah an-Nisa' 4:6 requires that when orphans reach the 'age of marriage' or a 'marriageable age', they can be tested for 'sound judgment' or maturity of mind'.”

Yasmin said this indicated that a marriageable age was linked to soundness of judgement and maturity, where a child below 18 could not be said to have the life experience necessary to assume marital responsibilities.

"There is no sound reason why her family and her intended groom cannot wait until she reaches the age of majority before asking for her consent to marry," she said.

Yasmid added that Malaysia should emulate other Muslim-majority countries which are already taking steps to address child marriage as a problem.

"A man was jailed in Indonesia for sexually abusing a minor after he married a 12-year-old girl, and even Saudi Arabia is mulling over a ban on child marriage. "Studies on child marriage point to harm suffered by children, particularly girls: the loss of childhood and adolescence, denial of freedom and personal development, difficulty in accessing education, health problems due to early pregnancies and abuse," she said.

The marriage of the 14-year-old child is only the tip of the iceberg as many more cases of child marriage go unreported.

According to Deputy Women, Family and Community Development Minister Heng Seai Kie last October, 16,000 girls aged below 15 in the country tied the knots.

Malaysia refuses to ban child marriages

(AFP) - Malaysia's law minister on Wednesday shot down calls to ban underage marriage, despite an uproar over the recent wedding of a 14-year-old Muslim school girl.

Siti Maryam Mahmod wed 23-year-old teacher Abdul Manan Othman last weekend in a mass wedding at a major mosque, after being given permission in an Islamic syariah court.

Malaysian Muslims below the age of 16 are allowed to marry as long as they obtain the permission of the religious courts. Sharia law runs in parallel with civil law in the multi-ethnic country.

Nazri Abdul Aziz, a minister in the premier's department in charge of legal affairs, said the government has no plan to review laws allowing for underage marriages because the practice is permitted under Islam.

"If the religion allows it, then we can't legislate against it," he told a press conference.

"Islam allows it as long as the girl is considered to have reached her pubescent stage, once she has her menstruation," he added.

However, Siti Maryam's marriage has sparked criticism including from Women, Family and Community Development Minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, who insisted the government did not condone the practice.

Activist groups have also called for the laws that allow underage marriage to be repealed, saying that the practice is widespread with some 16,000 Malaysian girls aged below 15 already married.

"The onset of puberty is no indication of sufficient maturity for marriage," pressure group Sisters in Islam said this week, citing a passage in the Koran which also requires "maturity of mind".

"No marriage of a minor child can be deemed acceptable," said the group's spokeswoman Yasmin Masidi.

Muslim Malays make up about 60 percent of the country's 28 million population and on certain issues, including family law, they are subject to Islamic justice.

Going against the tide, Jakim defends child marriage

By Rahmah Ghazali - Free Malaysia Today

PETALING JAYA: The Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (Jakim) sees nothing wrong in child marriage if the wedding is bound “by love between couples”.

Going against the tide of resentment triggered recently by the marriage of a 14-year-old Muslim school girl in a mass wedding, Jakim stressed that the practice was now widely accepted and considered “reasonable”.

Jakim director-general, Wan Mohamad Sheikh Abdul Aziz, said child marriage should not cause any problem, especially if the wedding was bound "by the love between couples”.

"The main issue is whether it violates Islamic law and the laws of Malaysia... but if there are elements of coercion, we must conduct an investigation,” he told FMT via a text message yesterday.

He, however, said that given the growing social problems among Muslims, such type of marriage should be encouraged.

"We ought to encourage marriage and not fighten the young people who want to get married," said Wan Mohammad.

Furthermore, he believed that pre-marriage courses introduced by Jakim since 1992 have helped many young couples to get through their married life, including the schoolgirl who tied the knot with a man doubled her age.

"The public may have objected to this idea at first, but now it (child marriage) is already widely accepted as a reasonable move," he said.

Civil rights groups have described such practice as “unacceptable” and have continuously called for restraint by religious courts empowered to approve underage marriage.

As there are many underaged unions that go unreported, the matter involving the schoolgirl only came to light when she and her husband participated in a mass wedding celebration at the Federal Territory mosque on Dec 4.

According to news reports, schoolgirl Siti Maryam Mahmod married 23-year-old schoolteacher Abdul Manan Othman last Saturday, after being given permission in a Syariah Court.

Raise the minimum age of marriage

Activist group, Sisters in Islam (SIS), which disagreed with underage marriage, proposed that the government raise the minimum age of marriage to 18 years for all Malaysians.

SIS spokesperson Yasmin Masidi said in a statement yesterday that the onset of puberty did not mean that the person has attained sufficient maturity for marriage.

"While the Quran does not state a specific age as the age of marriage, Surah an-Nisa' 4:6 requires that when orphans reach the 'age of marriage' or a 'marriageable age', they can be tested for 'sound judgment' or maturity of mind'.”

Yasmin said this indicated that a marriageable age was linked to soundness of judgement and maturity, where a child below 18 could not be said to have the life experience necessary to assume marital responsibilities.

"There is no sound reason why her family and her intended groom cannot wait until she reaches the age of majority before asking for her consent to marry," she said.

Yasmid added that Malaysia should emulate other Muslim-majority countries which are already taking steps to address child marriage as a problem.

"A man was jailed in Indonesia for sexually abusing a minor after he married a 12-year-old girl, and even Saudi Arabia is mulling over a ban on child marriage."Studies on child marriage point to harm suffered by children, particularly girls: the loss of childhood and adolescence, denial of freedom and personal development, difficulty in accessing education, health problems due to early pregnancies and abuse," she said.

The marriage of the 14-year-old child is only the tip of the iceberg as many more cases of child marriage go unreported.

According to Deputy Women, Family and Community Development Minister Heng Seai Kie last October, 16,000 girls aged below 15 in the country tied the knots.