Proposal to lower legal marriage age continues to draw flak

LABUAN: Sabah mufti Datuk Bungsu @ Aziz Jaafar has triggered a backlash with his proposal to have the legal marriage age of Muslims lowered to 14 for females and 16 for males.

A lecturer and researcher at the Labuan International Campus of University Malaysia Sabah said implementing the idea would jeopardise efforts to address social ills and immoral activities.

“The surge in the marriages of underage girls was slightly attributed to the cycle of poverty but, undeniably, a big chunk was due to immoral activities,” said Dr Romzi Ationg.

“The idea of lowering the marriageable age to 14 clearly shows the ignorance of the parties involved on the importance of basic education at an early age.”

A local daily recently reported Bungsu as saying that people should be allowed to get married early, which according to Syariah law is 14 for girls and 16 for boys, as some of these children can already be considered mature.

Dr Romzi said it could be a hasty decision.

“The views expressed on the issue do not represent the opinions of the majority of the people in view of the alarming immoral issues involving underage girls,” he said to Bernama.

He cited the cases of many underage girls being forced to marry working adult men simply because they had become pregnant.

The Health Ministry on Monday announced its opposition to the Sabah mufti’s proposal.

Deputy Minister Dr Lee Boon Chye said this was because teens would not have reached physical and psychological maturity.

“In terms of health, it is not advisable as these teenagers will go through pregnancy at a time when their uterus is not strong enough to sustain the baby and this is feared to be life-threatening to the mother and baby.

“Psychologically, they will face the challenges and pressure of running a household at a young age. They are still a child. You expect a child to bring up another child?” he said.