Minister: Govt in talks with Islamic bodies on raising marriage minimum age

KOTA KINABALU: The government is in discussion with Islamic religious bodies to achieve a mutual understanding in tackling child marriages.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (judicial affairs) Datuk Liew Vui Keong yesterday said the government was looking into raising the minimum age of marriage to 18, and would formulate a law once all stakeholders reached an understanding.

“I’ve been in constant talks with Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and stakeholders on this issue. We are looking into increasing the lower age limit.

“We want to look into the implications that may arise if we raise the age limit from 16 to 18. We have to consider the traditional and religious points of view,” he said after the handing over of the new Kota Kinabalu High Court building here.

He said in traditional marriages in Sabah and Sarawak, children under 16 were allowed to get married with their parents’ consent. Under Islamic laws, he added, marriages involving children under 16 were allowed with the consent of the chief minister or menteri besar.

“What is important is to look after children’s interest. We want to ensure children are not abused and prevent paedophiles from taking advantage of the loophole.”

On whether the government could come to an agreement with Islamic bodies, he said: “We are talking (with them) and I think they also want to protect the interest of children. We hope to come to an understanding as soon as possible.”

On the United Pasokmomogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation’s (Upko) commitment to push for the recall of all My Kad issued in Sabah, Liew said it would not be a practical move in tackling illegal immigrants.

“I think at this stage, we can look into how to identify the various people here, including those without identity cards or illegal immigrants. That is the main concern. We need to identify certain groups in Sabah.

“We need to come up with a formula to look into how we can solve this issue, to identify whether you are a genuine Sabahan. If we were to have many identity cards in various states, it will not be practical.”