‘Amend Constitution to remove conflict over child conversion’

PETALING JAYA: Wanita MCA has called on lawmakers to amend the Federal Constitution so that the word “parent” includes both the father and mother of a child.

Its chief Datuk Heng Seai Kie (pic) said that if the word “parent” in Article 12(4) means either the father or the mother, then it should be amended to refer to both parents.

This would then remove the conflict between the Constitution and the new Clause 88A of the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) (Amendment) Bill 2016 (LRA), which was aimed to prevent unilateral conversion of minors by any one parent, Heng said in a state- ment yesterday.

“If the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) deems the proposed Clause 88A is in conflict with the Federal Constitution, then the

AGC and lawmakers from both sides of the fence must table a Bill to amend Article 12(4) of the Federal Constitution to enshrine in stone that ‘parent’ means ‘ibubapa’ (both parents),” said Heng.

She also noted that G25, an eminent group of retired Malay civil servants, had “correctly pointed out” that until 2002, Article 12(4) of the Constitution provided for a child’s faith to be determined by “ibubapa” (both parents) and not a single parent.

Back in 2016, the G25 group had stated that Article 12(4), which provides for the religion of a minor to be decided by the child’s parent or guardian, had been altered in newer editions after 2002.

The group claimed that the Bahasa Malaysia translation of the Federal Constitution had indicated consent from both parents were required but the word “atau (or)” was inserted after 2002, allowing for either one of the parents to decide.

“It is important to investigate how ‘ibubapa’ was mysteriously switched to ‘ibu atau bapa’ without going through Parliamentary proceedings, and whether this subterfuge alteration is legal and binding.

“As this mysterious printing modification in the Federal Constitution was not debated in Parliament, much less officially gazetted, can its interpretation by the judiciary to mean singular be thus construed as correct and not flawed?” she asked.

On Monday, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said informed the Dewan Rakyat that the new Section 88A of the LRA would be dropped.

This would be the second time the LRA was deferred since it was tabled in November last year to resolve the issue.

The new Bill, which excluded Clause 88A, was tabled for its first reading on Tuesday.

The removed Clause 88A had stated that the religion of the child “shall remain as the religion of the parties to the marriage prior to the conversion”.